


Parallel

by spiral_static



Series: Non-Zero Possibility [2]
Category: Being Human (UK)
Genre: Angst, Blood Addiction, Blood Drinking, Blood Ritual, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death(s), Department of Domestic Defence, Depression, Dissociative Identity Disorder, F/M, Hell, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Prostitution, Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Phone Calls & Telephones, Phone Sex, Polyamory (sort of), Purgatory, Romance, Self-Harm, Semi-Public Sex, Suicide, Withdrawal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2019-09-05 06:10:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 180,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16805017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiral_static/pseuds/spiral_static
Summary: Sometimes loving someone means having to let them go. Then again, when did Hal Yorke ever play by the rules?





	1. The End, Part III

**Author's Note:**

> Hi again and sorry for the long wait! RL has thrown a bit of a spanner in the works, but hopefully, I'll be back on track again soon and able to update regularly. For now, updates will probably be every five days or so.
> 
> Obviously, at the end of Part 1, we didn't really leave the guys in a very happy place, so expect them to both still be suffering the aftermath. Especially Dominic is in a very dark place in this, so be warned. And please take my word that it will get better!
> 
> Lastly, this obviously contains major spoilers for Part 1, and probably won't make any sense without having read it, so I would strongly recommend finishing Part 1 before starting this.

In parallel worlds we align  
I hope you're not alone, I hope you're doing fine, and happy  
And if all I have to learn is how to be sure I'll let go  
You can be my guide

\- Brigade, “Four Kids to a Glockenspiel”

The pub is busy on a Friday night, groups of faceless people huddled around tables, queuing at the bar for drinks, laughing, smiling, flirting. Dominic looks around himself, and their happiness and carefreeness is making him sick. Don’t any of them realise that the world is ending?

“What did you think, Dom?”

Startled, he takes a deep breath and tries to focus on Sarah’s voice.

“About _The Apprentice_ on Wednesday? Didn’t you watch it?” she continues, throwing him an exasperated look.

He smiles and shakes his head. “No, sorry. What was it about?”

“Online dating,” Tracey chimes in, then lets out a little snort. “Fat bit of good it’s ever done me.”

“I take it it didn’t work out for you?” Dominic asks, attempting to feign interest.

Tracey looks at him darkly, shaking her head. “No. You ever tried it?”

Dominic raises his eyebrows. “Me? No.”

Tracey gives him a funny look. “Well, you gotta meet them somewhere. But my point is, don’t do it online. It rarely works out,” she finishes gloomily.

“Ooh, but didn’t you know? Jess in Finance met her new flame through online dating,” says Sarah conspiratorially, looking between Tracey and Dominic. “And I mean, have you _seen_ him?”

Dominic realises too late that the question was a) not rhetorical and b) at least partially meant for him. He watches Tracey nod with a dreamy smile before both women turn to face him.

“I… sorry, no,” he answers, blushing.

“Don’t you have _eyes_ , Dom?” Sarah asks.

He feels his blush intensify and tries to hide it by taking a large sip of whiskey. “Not for Jess’ new flame, apparently,” he says flatly, and places his glass back down on the table in front of him.

“We need to get you dating again, Dominic,” Tracey says seriously, or as seriously as she can on her third glass of wine. “All this moping around really isn’t helping anyone.”

Dominic sighs deeply, index finger running around and around the rim of his glass. “I don’t think I’m ready to date anyone else, Trace.”

Tracey gives him a significant look. “You’ve been saying that for the last two months, Dominic. When are you going to let him go?”

“That’s the thing,” Dominic explains, smiling sadly. Somewhere at the back of the pub, someone laughs loudly. Dominic throws them an irritated look and continues, “I don’t think I want to let him go.”

“If you ask me,” Sarah pipes up, skewering an olive from the shared bowl with a toothpick, “which I know you won’t, but if you did, I’d say that you’re way too good for him.”

Dominic raises an eyebrow at her. “You’ve never even met him.”

“Ha, and whose fault is that?” asks Tracey. “I told you for _ages_ to bring him ‘round sometime.” She gives Dominic a stern look. “You’ve met Sarah’s husband,” she adds, for some additional weight.

“Yes.” Dominic sighs. “It’s not that I didn’t want you to meet him, it’s more that it was an inconvenient time, with him only visiting occasionally, and he was going through some… personal… issues… at the time.”

He can almost hear Alex’s sarcastic voice in his head, saying, _Personal issues?_ He lets out a small chuckle at the thought. Looking back up at his two work colleagues, he sees them watching him with concern and a hint of confusion on their faces.

“You never did say why he left,” Sarah points out quietly. “Was it anything to do with those ‘personal issues’?”

Dominic bites his lip slightly and nods. “Yes, it was. And before you ask, no, I don’t want to talk about it.”

Tracey sighs deeply, taking another sip of wine. “I don’t understand you, honestly. You’ve really got everything going for you, you’re not bad looking, you’ve got money, a good job, an occasionally hilarious sense of humour… and you just don’t seem to be _interested_ in anyone. Anyone but him.”

“That’s because I’m not,” Dominic says seriously, meeting her eyes.

“I just don’t understand. What’s so special about this guy?”

Dominic shakes his head. “You wouldn’t understand. He just is.”

“Guys, can we stop with the doom and gloom already, please?” Sarah asks, and Dominic has never been more grateful for a change in topic – until her next words. “So what about this new serial killer, huh?”

“Ooh, yes, how many women are missing now?” replies Tracey, wide-eyed. “Twenty?”

“Eighteen,” Dominic corrects her, the number tasting bitter on his tongue. “But I think people are jumping to conclusions. The women are missing, not dead. There’s absolutely no evidence of it being a serial killer at all.”

“But why would so many women just… disappear?” Sarah asks, brow furrowed. “I mean, think about it, Dom. Some of them have been gone for up to two months now. Surely they must be dead.”

Tracey narrows her eyes. “You know, I read a crazy blog post online the other day that claimed some of the victims _have_ been found… drained of blood.” She leaves a pregnant pause, looking between the two of them, and Dominic does his best to hide his shock at her words. “They argued that, listen to this… the killer is _drinking_ the victims’ _blood_. Like a _vampire_.”

“Wow. The London Vampire Killer,” says Sarah, awestruck. Dominic swallows painfully.

“And that’s not all,” Tracey continues. “The blogger claims that – wait for it – the government is in on it, and they’re trying to cover it up.”

“No!” Sarah exclaims.

“Dominic,” Tracey says then, and he trains startled eyes on her. “You used to work for a secret government department,” she continues. “Did you ever come across any…” she pauses, then giggles and adds, “…vampires?”

His breath catches in his throat. _Fuck you, Hal,_ he thinks. _If you have to go around killing people, can’t you be a bit more careful about it? It’s not the 1800s anymore. People have the internet, forensics, conspiracy theories…_

He gives Tracey a small, tense smile and shakes his head. “No. No vampires, sorry. We were counter-terrorism.”

“Ooh, fancy,” says Sarah. “I never knew that. Why did they shut you down?”

He takes a deep breath. “Budget cuts, just like everything else,” he says gravely. “The responsibilities were given to a different department.”

Tracey sighs. “It’s always the same, isn’t it? And then they wonder why this psycho vamp killer is still on the loose two months on.”

“Very true,” says Dominic. “Very true.”

***

Detective Inspector Paul Casselli groans loudly as the unmistakable sound of his work mobile jolts him from his sleep. He can feel Alison stir next to him, and a moment later her tired voice interrupts the silence.

“Paul?”

“It’s nothing, honey. Go back to sleep. Just work trying to get hold of me,” he says, his own voice slow and heavy with sleep.

“Have they found another one?” Alison asks, and he sighs. He should never have got her so involved in this. It’s too serious an issue to have her or the girls in any way associated with it.

“I don’t know. Let me answer the call,” he says, at the same time grabbing his phone from the bedside table and pressing the little green button on the screen. “Casselli.”

“Sir, I’m really sorry to wake you, but I thought I’d let you know… we’ve got another one.”

He lets out another deep sigh. “Where?”

“A night club in Islington, sir. I’ll text you the address.”

His phone vibrates once in his hand, indicating that the text message has come through. “All right, thanks, Jason. I’ll be on my way there shortly.”

“Thank you, sir,” Jason says, and ends the call.

Paul turns around and sees Alison sit up in bed, giving him a worried look. “They have, haven’t they?”

He averts his eyes. “Yes.”

“Are you ever going to catch this monster, Paul? This has been going on for way too long. Just imagine he gets tired of young women some time, and starts targeting younger girls—”

“Don’t, please, Ali!” he snaps. “We are doing everything we can. That has to be enough. And from everything we know about him, he has a history of going for this particular demographic. If it hasn’t changed for the last five hundred years, I doubt it suddenly will now.”

 _It would really help if I had the support of someone who actually knows what they’re doing when it comes to Type 2s…_ _and this one in particular,_ Paul thinks bitterly. But however much he tries to convince Dominic Rook to work with him, the man remains firmly resistant. It’s frankly infuriating.

“How can you be sure of that, though, Paul?” Alison asks. “It’s not like you’re exactly an expert in these… creatures. You’ve worked with them for, what? Something like five or six months now?”

Paul swings his legs out of bed and walks over to the wardrobe, pulling out a shirt and suit. “Long enough to understand what we’re dealing with, Ali. Please, give me some credit. I’ve been given training in how to deal with Type 2s—”

“Training, yes. But reality is a little bit different, isn’t it? Listen, it’s not that I don’t trust you or your abilities. I know you’re a good police officer. You don’t have to prove anything to me. I’m… worried about you, is all.”

Paul turns around and gives his wife a small smile in the almost darkness of the room. “There’s nothing to worry about, Ali.” She opens her mouth to retort, but obviously changes her mind at the last moment, and smiles sadly at him in return.

“Just be careful.”

“Always,” he says emphatically, and leaves the room.

***

Jason rushes towards him as soon as he enters through the front doors of the now closed and cordoned-off night club.

“Sir, thank you for joining us. She’s over here,” he says, already turning around and walking towards a table at the back of the club.

Paul follows, taking in everything around him with the practised precision of twenty-five years on the job. A fairly average looking night club, just like most of them have been, but the timing is unusual. Paul would have expected the attack to happen a lot later, nearer closing time, and also perhaps in a more secluded location. It almost looks to Paul like SJ031 is getting sloppy…

Or getting surer of himself. Of what he can get away with. Paul involuntarily shudders at the thought. And then again when he lays eyes on the victim.

A young woman, no older than twenty, with short, smartly styled platinum blond hair, wearing a form-fitting, dark blue dress and elaborate make-up. He would call her pretty, if it wasn’t for the fact that her head is slumped awkwardly back against the wall, her mouth wide open in a silent scream, even though her eyes are closed, and there are two large gaping holes in the side of her neck, slowly seeping dark red blood.

Paul feels the familiar nausea that always overcomes him when he looks at one of the Type 2’s victims. How Rook can stand it, even the _thought_ of what the monster has done, and still nurture… _feelings_ for him, is beyond him. Especially after he experienced it first hand, and so very nearly paid with his life.

Paul’s eyes roam around the victim’s immediate surroundings, taking in the two drinks on the table, an almost empty glass of what looks like gin and tonic, and a more or less untouched glass of red wine. On the seat next to the victim is a sleek black purse.

Paul indicates the purse and turns towards Jason. “Anything you can tell me about her?”

Jason clears his throat. “Her name is Alexandra Walsh, according to her driving license. She’s nineteen. Twenty next month. Lives locally.”

Paul takes a deep breath. That’s victim number nineteen. And once again the monster got away and they have no chance of getting anywhere near him.

“What else do we know?” he asks with a sigh.

“The bartender said that they came in together. The Type 2 ordered drinks for both of them. Then he didn’t notice them again. She was found by one of the junior bar staff collecting empty glasses. At first she thought Alexandra was only passed out, but when she tried to wake her up, she noticed the puncture marks. By that point, the Type 2 was long gone.”

Paul frowns. “Was the bartender able to give a description of the Type 2?”

Jason nods. “He said he was slim, but athletic, brown hair, brown eyes, about five foot ten—”

“That’s him,” Paul says. “Definitely. That’s SJ031.”

Jason nods grimly. “It seems that way. On the plus side… at least he hasn’t created any more. That we know of.”

Paul’s eyes fall back on the young woman’s body. “Thank god for small mercies.”

***

Hal stands back, merging into the shadows as he watches the two young women staggering along on their ridiculously high heels, giggling and smiling. His eyes wander over both of them and come to linger on the taller one of the two. She’s all arms and legs in a tiny blue dress, a body like a model. Short, blonde hair that reveals her long, slender neck, skin so pale despite the time of year. Hal takes a deep breath as a sudden, aching sense of longing overcomes him.

No. Not going there.

He turns away from the pair, starts to walk in the opposite direction, out of the tube station. It’s not worth it. She’s too close. He can’t allow himself to be reminded—

His head whips around as he hears a loud sigh, followed by an impatient “What the hell?” from the blonde girl. Looking in her direction, he sees the reason for the commotion. The girl’s friend is standing on this side of the barrier, helplessly standing by as her friend unsuccessfully tries to get through the barrier.

Hal takes a deep breath and before he even knows what he is doing, has crossed the distance between himself and the girls, stepping up to them with a wide, charming smile.

“Hello ladies,” he says. “Can I help you?”

The blonde girl looks at him and gives him a bright smile despite her predicament. “Hey there. Yeah, erm… my Oyster card’s not working.”

Hal, never wavering in his smile, pulls out his wallet and holds his own card out to her. “Here, use mine.”

The blonde girl stares between him and his outstretched hand for s moment. “You sure?” she asks, swaying slightly in her high heels.

Hal gives her the smallest hint of a wink and says, “Of course. Go ahead.”

She bites her lip, and the gesture makes a surge of hunger flare inside him. Oh, he can’t wait to taste her.

“You don’t even know me,” she says.

He flashes another bright smile and stretches his hand out to her, minus the card. “Hi, I’m Hal. It’s lovely to meet you.”

She rolls her eyes and giggles, but takes his hand nonetheless. “Nice to meet you, Hal. I’m Alex.”

A flash of some other emotion sparks up inside him, then. An emotion from a different life, that doesn’t belong here. He briefly closed his eyes and swallows down the feeling.

“Well, Alex, now that we know each other, can you please take this?” He holds the Oyster card out to her again. “Or do you want to spend all night in this tube station?”

She giggles and bites her lip again. Does she not realise what she is doing to him with this? Hal can feel his fangs itching to come out, and he pushes back against the pressure. It’s not time yet.

“Oh, all right then,” Alex says, and takes the card from him. A moment later she is on his side of the barrier, standing right in front of him and waving the card before his eyes. “Thank you very much, Hal.”

“Now, Alex, we really need to go. We’re supposed to be meeting the others in—” she breaks off, glancing at her phone, “—aww, man, five minutes ago.”

Alex looks between her friend and Hal swiftly. “What are you gonna do?” she asks Hal.

He smiles. “I’m not actually sure yet,” he replies.

“Oh no? Well why don’t you just come with us?” Hal can see Alex’s friend opening her mouth to argue, but Alex cuts her off, “Come on, Louise, I don’t think anyone’ll mind if we bring someone else along. And Hal did just save me.” The last bit is said with a bright smile towards Hal and he winks at her again.

“I don’t know, Alex…” Louise’s brow furrows.

Hal clears his throat. “Actually, if you don’t mind, Alex… I don’t really like going out with a big crowd.” He gives her a significant look.

Louise nods. “Yeah. Why don’t you and Hal go somewhere… quieter, and I’ll explain to the others where you’ve gone.” She, too, gives Alex a little wink, and Hal’s head whips around as he feels the blood rushing into her cheeks.

He looks at her intensely. “What do you think?”

She gives him a slow, tentative, almost shy smile and says, “Yeah, sure. I’d like that.” Then she narrows her eyes at him and adds, “But I’d rather not go somewhere too… quiet.”

“Don’t worry,” he says. “I know the perfect place.”

***

Hal carries Alex’s gin and tonic and his own glass of cheap house Merlot – he isn’t intending to drink much of it – back to the semi-secluded table at the back of the club. Semi-secluded, but not secluded enough, he thinks, as he once again fights to keep his fangs safely sheathed.

What is it about this girl, that sets her apart from the rest? Is it her name? Is that all it is, a sentimental attachment to a name that reminds him of a… friend? He doesn’t have any friends, now. Doesn’t need them. He has ascended beyond such pathetically human concepts as _friendship_.

He sits down next to Alex, and she gives him a curious look, a little smile playing on her lips.

“You look like you’re very deep in thought there, Hal.”

“Well, wouldn’t you like to know,” he says, smirking.

“Oh yeah,” she says, nodding. “Now how to get it out of you, I wonder?”

He chuckles. “Alex,” he says.

“Yes?”

“Your name. I like it.” She blushes and takes a sip of her drink. He continues, “I was thinking about why I like it.”

“And why is that?”

He looks at her seriously and sighs. “I used to know a girl called Alex.”

“Used to?” Alex asks, eyes wide.

He nods. “She died.”

“Oh no. I’m so sorry.” He can see genuine sympathy in her eyes, and it almost makes him roll his eyes.

 _Don’t worry, you will be joining her very soon,_ he thinks, and chuckles.

She gives him a slightly bewildered look. “What’s funny?”

He shakes his head, still quietly chuckling. “Nothing. I was just thinking that I brought you here to have a good time, and here I am, talking about my dead friend.”

“Oh no, don’t apologise,” Alex says, eyes wide and sincere. Those eyes remind him of something. Of someone. Someone he c—

_No. Stop that thought. Here and now, Hal, here and now._

“…can think of something to make me enjoy myself more?” he picks up the last bit of what she’s been saying. She puts down her drink and looks at him with expectation in her eyes.

“Let’s see,” he says, and leans in. Her lips taste of lipstick and G&T, with a hint of breath mint thrown in for good measure. Her lips are soft, so soft against his own. It’s not unpleasant, not in the slightest, but also not right. Not quite.

He pulls back, looks into her big blue eyes. Those eyes…

“Wow,” she breathes. “That was some kiss.”

“There’s more where that came from, if you want,” he says, voice husky.

She nods wordlessly, and he leans in again. The last thing he sees are those blue depths, and he finds that he can’t hold back anymore.

 _Not here,_ a little warning voice in his mind whispers. _It’s too public. You’re risking someone seeing you._

He mulls the advice over in his mind for a fraction of a second and decides that he really doesn’t care.

Her lips move against his own, making him let out a low, guttural moan before he moves his mouth away from hers, peppering kisses along her jaw and down her neck.

“Mmm, Hal, what are you doing?” she asks breathlessly, but he doesn’t respond. He’s way too far gone to respond. He feels his mouth open of its own accord, feels his fangs making contact with her skin.

_That milky white skin, so similar to—_

No.

He hears her sharp intake of breath as his fangs pierce her skin, and his hand is already there, ready and waiting to silence her, to avoid causing a scene. Why do they always have to scream?

The sweet, warm liquid gushes into his mouth, making him hum contentedly.

 _A negative,_ he thinks. _Close, but not quite right. Not quite like—_

No.

He squeezes his eyes shut, partly to shut out the too bright light from his hypersensitive black eyes, and partly to shut out the unwelcome, intrusive thoughts.

It’s like he never, ever shuts up. As if he exists at the back of his mind purely to torture him, to spoil his fun, again and again and again. If only there was some way to shut him up forever.

Hal can feel the girl go limp in his arms, and the blood flow slow to a weak trickle. Disappointed, he lets go of her, letting her head flop back against the wall. With a deep sigh, he pulls out his handkerchief and wipes his mouth clean in a well-practised movement. Then he gets up and, as nonchalantly as possible, makes his way through the noisy, busy club to the exit.

***

Dominic turns the key in the lock and lets himself into his big, dark, silent flat. His footsteps echo on the wooden flooring as he quickly makes his way into the kitchen, retrieves a glass from one of the cupboards, before entering the living room. He doesn’t immediately turn on the light, but stands in the middle of the large room for a long moment, in the dark, taking in the fast-moving shadows on the walls from the traffic outside, which is still considerable despite the late hour. London never sleeps.

He listens for the slight humming of the cars outside, the only sound he can hear in the big, empty room. The boxes are still there, two months on, piled in a corner of the room, forgotten. The mirror still leaning against an empty magnolia wall, wrapped in a white sheet.

It feels as if his life really did end on that day, as if everything just _stopped_ , and his existence now is a reflection of this big, empty space. Meaningless.

He shakes himself, reaches out to turn on the light and takes another few steps into the room. Letting out a long sigh, he slowly sits down on the sofa and picks up the bottle of whiskey that has made its permanent home on the coffee table. Alex has given him a sufficiently hard time about it many times, but what does she know? She’s not the one that has lost… everything.

He pours himself a generous measure of whiskey and leans back on the sofa, balancing the glass on his right thigh, and he closes his eyes and lets out a soft sigh. Finally, he takes a sip of the dark golden liquid, and it burns his throat in a familiar, soothing way. He is faintly aware that he has probably had more than enough already in the pub with Tracey and Sarah, but he is so far beyond caring about such things now. What is ‘enough’, anyway? It never feels quite like enough, never quite succeeds in making him forget.

He wonders for a brief moment why it is that the longing is quite so _strong_ today, more than it has been for so many weeks now. Then his mind catches up on the conversation he had with his work colleagues earlier, of how everything they talked about somehow ended up revolving around Hal. And it made him miss him with an almost physical force.

And finally, giving in to the almost overwhelming urge he feels deep inside his chest, he allows his mind to wander, allows himself to do the opposite of forgetting. He _remembers_. Remembers his smile, his beautiful, gentle eyes, so warm and so intense all at the same time, like a flame burning inside them. Remembers his touch, those cool fingers running over his own flushed skin. The softness of those lips, unlike anything he ever felt before. And for one tiny fraction of a moment, he allows himself to remember the feeling of his fangs piercing his skin, of the little, pleased moans he would let out, that would send a jolt of electricity straight down Dominic’s spine.

He painfully bites his lip as another memory takes over. Of Hal forcefully holding him in place, of ignoring his pleas to stop, of draining his life energy out of him, one gulp at a time.

He quickly opens his eyes and takes a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart. Before he has a chance to stop it, his mind wanders again, this time asking the oh so familiar questions of _Where is he, right now? What is he doing?_

And then, _Has he really forgotten about you?_

And like all the many times before, going through this painful cycle of thoughts, he wishes more than anything that he could. That he had the mental ability to forget. Knowing full well that it will never happen.

He reaches out for the TV remote, puts it on to some documentary that he has absolutely no interest in watching, and drains the remainder of his glass before pouring himself another one.

Half an hour and another two drinks later, he finally accepts that oblivion is stubbornly escaping him today, and he gets up, swaying slightly on his feet. He closes his eyes for a long moment, waiting for the world to stop spinning, and makes his way slowly into the bathroom.

He takes a long look at himself in the mirror above the sink, takes in his glassy eyes, dishevelled hair, the slightly too pronounced cheekbones on his pale face. The dark rings under his eyes that come with not sleeping properly for two months.

He looks on with disgust at himself for another long moment, then lifts up his arm and undoes the button on his left shirt sleeve in a practised motion, revealing two small circular marks on his wrist. One, smooth, satiny, light pink scar tissue. The other, scabbed over with dark red, clotted blood.

He runs his right index finger over both, nail slightly scratching over the scab, almost but not quite enough to make it bleed again. He bites his lip, swallows hard and reaches out, lifts up a long, thin object lying on the little table next to the sink, hidden behind his shaver and toothbrush.

He takes another quick look in the mirror, looks deeply into his own blue eyes, haunted as they are with shame and self-loathing. Then his eyes flick down to his wrist, and, holding his breath, he brings up the small knife, lifts the tip to the round pink mark on his wrist, and pushes it in.

The feeling is instantaneous. Sharp, piercing pain, travelling up his arm, sending a shiver down his spine and up to the top of his head, giving him goose bumps. He can almost physically feel the rush of endorphins into his system, and he lets out a long, shaky breath as his eyes fall on the small trickle of red from his wrist, rolling down his pale skin and dripping into the sink. He stares at it, transfixed, until his vision blurs, and he watches on as the trickle of blood is diluted by a single drop of salt water.

He lifts his other hand, presses his thumb to the wound, the pressure causing a familiar pulsing in his wrist, and he closes his eyes, savouring the feeling for a long moment.

Eventually, he lets go of his bleeding wrist, turns on the tap, lets the cold water wash away the slow trickle of blood from the small wound. Then he opens a drawer in the bathroom cabinet, pulls out a dressing, fixes it to his wrist and rolls down his sleeve. The pulsing pain is still there, still with him, as he makes his way back into his bedroom, strips down to his boxers, and falls into bed. And it’s what he focuses on as he feels himself slowly drift off into a fitful sleep.


	2. Haunted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!

With my eyes closed  
I'll look closer  
I'll always  
Remember

\- Editors, “Fall”

_“Hey there, can I help you?”_

_Hal looks up to find a pretty red-haired girl in a knitted jumper giving him a curious look._

_“Erm… yes, possibly,” he replies with a smile. Looking around the small stationery shop, he asks, “I’m looking for a card. A very specific one. Perhaps you can help me find it.”_

_The girl gives him a smile and an enthusiastic nod. “Yeah, sure. What are you looking for?”_

_Hal gives her his description, and the girl frowns. “A rook?”_

_“A type of crow,” he explains, trying hard to keep his composure. The girl’s heartbeat is very distracting, and he hasn’t fed for a couple of days. But he can really do with her help first._

_The girl nods. “Right. Let me have a look…” She walks off to a shelf at the back of the shop, looking through a group of blank greeting cards. “Can I ask what the occasion is?” she asks, turning around to him._

_Hal looks at her for a moment without replying. What is the occasion?_

_“An apology,” he says finally. “For a… very special person.”_

_“I see,” the girl says with a somewhat wistful smile. Hal’s eyes linger on that smile, on her lips, for a long moment._

_“It’s… not what you think,” he says quietly. “We’re not… it’s… complicated.”_

_“Urgh, I understand better than you might think, believe me,” she says with a little half-smile, then turns back around to the shelf. A minute or so later, she lets out a triumphant whoop and holds out a card to him. “There we go. I knew I’d seen this here.”_

_Hal’s eyes fall on the black and white card, and he lets out a relieved breath. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”_

_The girl gives him a long look, then starts walking back to the front of the shop. Hal follows her silently. Once at the till, she looks back up at him with a smile and says, “Is there anything else I can do for you?”_

_Hal considers her for a moment, taking in her friendly smile, her fiery red hair, her slightly too fast heartbeat, the enticing smell of her blood. He smiles brightly at her and asks, “Do you live locally?”_

_She gives a little, surprised laugh at the directness of his question, but answers it nonetheless. “I… yeah, I do, actually.”_

_“The reason I’m asking is because I’ve just moved here myself, and I was wondering if someone who knows the area could give me some pointers.”_

_Her smile is turning shy as she replies, “I… guess so. What pointers are you looking for?”_

_“Oh, you know, the usual. Places to go, best shops, restaurants, that kind of thing,” he explains._

_“Well, you’ve already discovered the best stationery shop,” she says, her smile growing again. “Unfortunately for you, we’re closing down.”_

_He gives her a sympathetic look. “Yes, I saw the sign in the window. Today’s your last day?”_

_She gives him a solemn nod. “Yeah. I’ve worked here for five years, I won’t pretend that I won’t miss the place.”_

_“Well,” he says, and looks directly into her eyes. “If you would like someone to get drunk and share your sorrows with, I’d be available tonight.”_

_“Is that so?” she asks playfully, and he nods._

_“Yes.”_

_“I don’t even know your name,” she points out with a small laugh._

_“So sorry. I’m Hal. You’re Holly,” he says, glancing at her name badge. “Seven a good time?”_

_Holly gives him another laugh, this one deeper, fuller. “Seven sounds good. I can show you around a bit and then I’ll introduce you to my favourite pub.”_

_“That sounds like an excellent plan,” he says, then takes the card she is holding out to him in a small paper bag and leaves the shop with a loud ringing of the old-fashioned bell on the door._

Hal shakes off the memory as he looks around the cosy flat he now inhabits, courtesy of Holly. They went out that night, he remembers, and she poured her heart out to him about how she had a big falling out with her family over her boyfriend, the man she was sure she was going to spend the rest of her life with. Her family effectively disowned her, she explained. The only thing they couldn’t take from her was the flat they had paid for that was held in Holly’s name. Three months later, as fate would have it, the boyfriend left as well, and by that point most of her friends had turned their backs, leaving her desperately alone in a city where making new friends seemed next to impossible sometimes, and with few real options left.

Hal chuckles, remembering how he almost felt like he was doing her a favour when he took her life, and took the quirky inner city flat she left behind as an additional bonus. It was certainly a step up from sleeping in the car.

At least she was an avid reader, he thinks as his eyes wander along the large bookshelves occupying almost every wall. It gives him something to do in the long hours he spends alone nowadays. Not that he really minds being alone all that much. One day, he thinks, sinking down on the comfortable dark brown sofa, he will start recruiting new followers, will start rebuilding what he once had. But at this moment in time, there is a big part of him that actually craves the solitude, after such long years spent in the constant company of others.

Hal leans back on the sofa, lets his head fall onto the back rest, and closes his eyes. The girl, Alex’s blood is singing in his veins in the most delicious of feelings, and he takes a moment to just relish it. This is what none of his so-called ‘friends’ ever understood. That it’s not just about the _blood_ per se. It’s the very act of taking a human’s life that increases the power of it ten-fold.

Hal hums quietly to himself, floating in a sea of serenity, clearing his mind of all the unwanted thoughts and feelings that have kept haunting him ever since he left… him. And finally, finally he feels the peace that comes with silencing the persistent, nagging voice in his mind that whispers to him about humanity, about pain and loss and _love_ , all those feelings that he has no room for in his life. And he welcomes that peace, even though he knows it probably won’t last. It never does.

***

Dominic opens his eyes and is greeted by a loud “Boo” from somewhere by the end of his bed. He groans as he is hit by a rather magnificent headache.

“Alex. Do you really have nothing better to do than watching me sleep? It’s getting a little bit creepy, you know,” he says into the darkness. His voice is scratchy and hoarse, and he craves a drink of water.

“Sorry,” Alex says sheepishly. “Just thought I’d bring you the morning paper. I thought you might want to see it.”

That manages to grab Dominic’s attention, and he slowly sits up in bed. His stomach lurches, and he groans again.

“Rough night?” Alex asks, concern in her voice. Dominic watches as the curtains start moving to reveal a dreary, overcast day outside the large window.

“Yeah.”

“Well, good thing you’ve got me then,” Alex says, and he sees a glass of water and a couple of small white pills floating towards him. He takes the items gratefully, swallows the pills and washes them down with a large gulp of water.

“Thanks,” he breathes, the cold water doing miracles on his painful throat.

“What happened to your wrist?” Alex asks then, and he instinctively pulls his arm in and under the covers, out of her view.

“Nothing,” he says flatly, taking another sip of water.

“Right.”

Alex has never openly confronted him about the cuts, but he is fairly certain that she has a good idea what he is doing. Still, as long as she doesn’t bring it up, he certainly won’t either, and it is added to the long list of _things that are not spoken about_.

“So, then, what about that morning paper?” Dominic asks.

“Oh, yeah, have a look,” she says, holding out the paper to him. He glances over the front page, breath catching in his throat as he takes in the face of a pretty blonde girl under the headline of _Student, 19, killed in brutal attack_. He reads on and his throat constricts more and more with every word. When he is finished, he drops the paper into his lap and sends a wide-eyed look in Alex’s direction.

“He’s completely lost it,” he whispers.

“Looks like it, yeah. Attacking a girl in a packed night club and just leaving her there? However good Special Branch are, they’re surely not going to be able to keep all those people silent?”

“You’d be surprised,” Dominic says distractedly, eyes fixed back on the picture of the girl. “Remember that incident with the werewolf in the night club?”

“Err… yeah, I remember. That was the night I died,” she says flatly, and Dominic’s eyes widen in realisation.

“Oh, Alex, of course. I’m so sorry.”

She is silent for a moment, then says, “Yeah, never mind. Wasn’t your fault.”

“No, but I’m still sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“It’s okay, really,” she says. “And anyway, we weren’t talking about me, we were talking about your psycho boyfriend.”

“Alex—”

“What, Dominic? What are going to say now? That he’s not a psycho? Or not your boyfriend?”

He heaves a big sigh, closing his eyes. “Both.”

Alex echoes his sigh and says, “Dominic, you even just said it yourself. He’s completely lost it. That… _thing_ is not our Hal anymore.”

He squeezes his eyes shut tightly for a moment, trying to ignore the sharp stab in his heart at her words. “I still think that perhaps he could be…” he trails off, unsure of what the right word is to use.

“What, saved?” Alex pipes up, and huffs.

He throws a serious look in her direction. “Something like that, yes.”

Their conversation is interrupted by Dominic’s phone whirring loudly on the bedside table. He reaches over and picks it up, looking at the screen to see who would be calling him on a Saturday morning.

_Paul Casselli calling_

Great.

With a sigh, Dominic answers the call. “Inspector?”

“Mr Rook, I trust you have seen the news this morning?”

Dominic frowns for a moment, then moves the phone from his ear and takes another look at the screen, his eyes widening as he realises it’s already eleven forty-five.

Clearing his throat, he replies. “I have indeed.”

He can hear Casselli sighing on the other end. “Mr Rook, this situation is getting out of control. Are you really going to sit back and do nothing while this… monster roams the city and claims his twentieth victim?”

Dominic’s voice is oddly emotionless when he echoes Hal’s words to him from what feels like so long ago. “He’s killed thousands of people, Inspector.”

“All the more reason to see him behind bars!” Casselli bellows, and Dominic flinches at the sudden sharp pain in his head at the noise.

“I believe I’ve made my position in this matter more than clear, Inspector,” he says with an air of finality.

“Crystal clear,” Casselli replies bitterly. “I just don’t give up hope that one day you will come to your senses.”

“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, Inspector,” Dominic says, and without waiting for a reply, ends the call. He takes a deep breath, staring at his phone for a long moment.

“He’s certainly persistent,” Alex says into the silence, and he huffs.

“Yes.”

She is quiet for a moment, hesitating, before she speaks again. “He does have a point though, Dominic.”

He looks up in her direction, accusingly. “What do you mean, exactly?”

“We can’t just stand by and allow Hal to kill all those people. It’s not right. We need to do… I don’t know, something.”

He frowns at thin air for a long moment, then lets out a long breath and says, “You’re right, of course. But I have no idea what the hell we can possibly do that doesn’t involve either staking him or handing him over to Casselli, and I’m not ready to do either of those, sorry.”

“Neither am I, believe it or not,” she admits, and after a short pause continues, “Now, how about some breakfast, and you can tell me all about your progress in hunting down that vampire – what’s his name? Remus?”

He lets out a hollow laugh. “Regus.”

“That’s the one.”

Dominic swings his legs out of bed and slowly stands up, allowing the well-known feeling of nausea to wash over him for a moment before making his way into the kitchen. He can feel Alex’s presence following behind him.

Once he is seated at the kitchen island with a bowl of cereal and a steaming cup of tea in front of him, he lifts his eyes once again in Alex’s direction and says, “So, Regus.”

“Yes. Have you made any headway in finding him?”

He shakes his head. “Sadly, no. Last thing I knew, when I was still working at the Archive, was that he was in the Oxford area, with this new recruit of his, a female… can’t remember her name.”

“Michaela,” Alex says. “Tom says she used to come to the café a lot. When she was still human.”

“Hmm.” Dominic thinks about this for a moment. “Tom doesn’t have any contact details for her, does he? A phone number?”

“I don’t think so,” she answers. “But I can ask him.”

He gives a small smile in her direction. “Thanks, Alex. Has there been any news about Captain Hatch?”

“No,” she says quickly. “Tom is keeping an eye on him, of course, but there’s been absolutely no change. Which, I suppose, is a good thing.”

Dominic nods. “Most certainly. I guess Hal was right, that he won’t do anything as long as he is trapped in that body.”

“Yes,” Alex replies, “but we should still try and find the details of that ritual as soon as possible.”

“Agreed.”

There is a long silence before she speaks again. “Do you think… is there any way you could ask Casselli…” she trails off, and he frowns, shaking his head.

“No.” He huffs. “How can I possibly ask him any favours if I’m so adamant that I won’t help him with Hal?”

“They’re two very different problems.”

He narrows his eyes in her direction. “Yes, but why would he help me? He’ll just use it as a bargaining chip to make me work with him in return. And you know I can’t do that.”

“Hmm,” Alex hums, and he can almost picture her furrowing her brow in thought. “There might be a way.”

Dominic’s eyebrows shoot up involuntarily. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not a hundred percent sure yet,” she says. “Let me think about it for a while, I’ll get back to you.” With that, he feels the tell-tale whoosh of air that signals her departure. He frowns at the empty room for a long moment before picking up his spoon and going back to eating his cornflakes.

***

Hal walks down the busy London street on this mild summer evening, the blood still coursing through his system from yesterday’s kill making the sound of the hundreds of heartbeats around him a pleasant background hum. The sun is just about to set, basking the scene in a warm, golden light that soothes his sensitive eyes. He’d forgotten how much more the light of the sun affects him when he feeds properly, and he has taken to wearing sunglasses during the day. Just one of the little things you forget when your weaker half takes over and you deny your true nature for almost sixty years.

Hal chuckles quietly to himself, eyes drifting over the flocks of humans all around him, so completely unaware that they have a dangerous predator in their midst, all instinctive sense of danger eroded by centuries of living with the false conviction that _they_ are the apex predator. Hal shakes his head in exasperation. Idiots.

As his eyes wander across the road, they fall on a dark blue BMW stopping on the side of the road, and a girl getting out. His eyebrows fly up as he takes a closer look at the girl. The long dark hair, pulled up into a messy bun, those ridiculous large hoop earrings…

Hal’s breath catches in his throat. Can it be? In a city of eight million people, he runs straight into _her_? He watches as Natasha throws a last look and a phoney, too-bright smile through the passenger window of the car and starts walking further down the road, and before he knows what he is doing, he crosses the road to follow at a safe distance.

She walks quickly down the road until she gets to a nondescript black door next to a chip shop, opens the door and disappears inside. Hal narrows his eyes, watching the closed door for a long moment, and then shakes himself, wondering what made him follow her here in the first place. Yes, his other, stupid, sentimental half once cared about this girl. Doesn’t mean that she should hold any kind of meaning for him. Does it?

Turning on his heels, Hal makes his way back down the road and towards his favourite bar. He is in serious need of a distraction.

***

Despite his best efforts, on Sunday evening Hal finds himself back across the road from the dingy looking chip shop, eyes fixed on the black door. He does his best to blend into the background so as not to attract attention. He has been standing here for twenty minutes now, unsure if Natasha is even in, and is starting to seriously question his sanity, when the door opens and Natasha appears, but she is not alone this time. A tall, well-built man, who looks about Dominic’s age, maybe a couple of years younger, has an arm thrown around her waist, holding her closely against him, and there is another, blonde girl and a slightly shorter, younger man following behind the pair, holding hands.

Hal slowly follows the group on the other side of the road. His eyes narrow at the possessive way the man’s arm is tightened around Natasha, as well as the fact that she is so clearly relying on him to keep her upright and walking straight. They have obviously been drinking a fair bit already, and it’s only just turned ten.

Hal keeps following the group further down the road, then down another one, and finally watches them disappear into one of the night clubs he himself has been frequenting. Interesting, he thinks, that he has never seen her there before. He crosses the road once they are out of sight, and enters the club.

He is immediately taken aback by a wall of noise from the loud dance music inside, an assault on his sensitive ears. Closing his eyes for a long moment, he collects himself enough to take another few steps inside and locate the group by the bar. He stays in the background for a moment until they have all ordered their drinks and have taken their seats around a table. Natasha is almost sitting in the tall guy’s lap, he notices with a frown, with his arm still possessively around her.

Hal orders a glass of wine and takes a seat at the bar, a fair distance away but with uninterrupted view of the goings on at the table. He watches as the guy whispers something in Natasha’s ear, watches her giggle and nod, hears over the noise of the music the other girl demanding to know what he has said, and Natasha shaking her head with a slight blush. The younger man says something to change the subject, and they continue in their conversation for a long while without anything out of the ordinary happening.

The longer he watches, however, the more he realises that there is something _off_ about Natasha, about the way she carries herself, the way she seems to be so attached to the guy next to her, about how fake her smiles and laughs are, how she is fidgeting constantly. At one point, the guy leans in and kisses her straight on the mouth, a long, deep kiss, and she melts into him bonelessly. A moment later, Hal’s eyes can just about make out him handing her something under the table, and she and the other girl stand up and make their way through the dancing crowd towards the bathroom.

Hal watches with a frown as they disappear into the crowd, and his eyes dart back to the table, where the two men are sitting having a laugh about something. The older man’s eyes dart around the room, and for one fraction of a second, they meet Hal’s, who quickly averts his own gaze, watching the dancing crowd instead.

He is starting to get a pretty good idea of what’s going on here, and the disruptive voice at the back of his mind doesn’t miss a beat to tell him that he doesn’t like it one little bit. That there is something about this situation that is _all too familiar_ for some reason, and that he needs to do something to help her. When really, all he wants is to sink his teeth into that soft, pale skin.

 _Don’t you dare hurt her,_ the other one speaks up at the back of his mind. _Dominic loves her like a sister. He would never forgive you if you harmed her._

But why would he care if Dominic gets angry at him? It’s not like he is ever going to see him again.

Hal’s eyes scan the crowd again, and a moment later he sees Natasha and her friend emerging from the bathroom and making their way over to the dance floor. Their eyes fall on the two men still sat at the table, and the older man nods approvingly as he watches the two of them dance. Natasha’s eyes close as she is moving in sync with the music. Hal finds it impossible to tear his eyes away from her.

And before he even fully knows what is happening, her eyes open, she turns her head just so, and her gaze fixes straight on him. She freezes in the middle of the dance floor, and they just stare into each other’s eyes for the longest moment, and then, as if awakening from a dream, she moves through the crowd towards him. Her friend, who noticed her moving away, throws a confused look between her and Hal, and follows along behind her.

Natasha comes to a halt in front of him, pulling herself up to a lot more of a height than her short stature should allow her, and flares her nostrils as she takes him in. Her pupils are so wide they make her eyes look almost black.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” she asks, just as her friend arrives behind her and runs an appreciative look over Hal.

“Ooh, who’s this, Tasha?” she asks, and Natasha whirls around, obviously only now aware that she has been followed.

“He’s no one.”

“Yeah, right,” her friend says, then looks back towards Hal. “Hi there, I’m Jen.”

Hal gives Jen a wide grin and says, “It’s a pleasure, Jen. I’m Hal.”

Natasha’s voice is murderous when she says, “Oh no. Don’t you _dare_ , Hal.” She turns around to her friend and adds, “Jen, you need to go. Now. Tell the guys I’ll be right back with you, I just need to… talk to an old friend for a moment.”

Jen smiles widely at Natasha. “An old friend, huh? Like an ex-boyfriend?”

“What? No.” Natasha shakes her head in disgust. “Just a friend.”

“Oh, sure. That’s why you’re so _pleased_ to see him, huh.” Then, a playful smile grows on her lips. “Funny, I thought you had a thing for older men.”

Natasha huffs and throws Hal a very dirty look. “He’s older than he looks.”

Hal, despite himself, can’t help but bark out a short laugh. Turning back to Jen, he smiles charmingly and says, “Just friends, I assure you. Now, if you could excuse us…”

Jen smiles brightly back at him. “Sure. It’s nice to meet you, Hal. Maybe some other time, huh?”

“Most definitely,” he says, all the while feeling Natasha’s eyes cutting into him like a knife.

Jen turns to leave, and Hal looks back up at Natasha, who has taken a seat next to him at the bar.

“You haven’t answered my question. What the fuck are you doing here?” Natasha looks at him expectantly for a long moment, and Hal decides that this is too much fun to spoil it straight away, so he says nothing, letting her continue. “Has Dominic sent you to spy on me? Did he somehow find out where I am?” Despite her façade of bravado, he can see her eyes flicking around nervously at her mention of Dominic.

He gives her a small smile. “Don’t worry, Natasha. Dominic has nothing to do with this.”

“No? Has he finally come to his senses and broken up with you?”

Hal laughs humourlessly. “Let’s just say we have parted ways.”

“Parted ways, huh?” She narrows her eyes at him. “You’re so full of shit. What the hell does that mean, Hal?”

He smiles and looks down at his glass. “Never mind that.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Natasha shaking her head. “No, I’m not gonna let you get away that easily. What the fuck happened between you two?”

“I hate repeating myself, Natasha. I already told you we parted ways.”

“Why?”

“I needed something different.”

She gives him a long, hard look. “Wow, you’re an even bigger arsehole than I thought you were.” She pauses, and he raises his eyebrows at her. “So you got tired of him, and you just dumped him?”

He huffs a laugh. “That’s a bit of an oversimplification.”

Natasha rolls her eyes. “Well, okay, genius. Explain it to me then.”

Hal heaves a long, slightly exasperated sigh. “I don’t actually think it’s any of your business, Natasha. Rest assured that he is okay, and I am okay, and we’ve moved on.”

“How can you be so sure of that?” she asks. “Have you asked him?”

Hal sighs again in frustration. Does she just not know when to give up?

“Tell me, Hal. How do you know he’s okay? That he has moved on so easily from the only person he has _ever_ loved, who is now apparently preying on pretty young girls in bars.”

At that moment, a realisation hits him like a brick, and he lets out a loud, barking laugh. “Does Dominic know?”

She furrows her brow at him. “Know what?”

He looks straight into her eyes, sees her slightly recoil at the intensity of his look. “That you’re in love with him.”

Her eyes widen. “I’m… what? I don’t know what you’re—”

“Oh please, Natasha, don’t,” he cuts in. “It’s obvious.”

She lets out a deep sigh and doesn’t say anything for a long moment, staring down at the shiny white surface of the bar. “Was,” she says eventually, so quiet that he barely hears her over the racket of the music and the crowd. “I was in love with him. A long time ago.”

He nods briskly, fighting against the urge to roll his eyes. “Yeah. You keep telling yourself that.”

Her eyes come back up to meet his own, and there is heartbreak there, but also resignation and acceptance. “It’s the truth. And anyway, it’s not like he’d ever be interested.”

“You might be right there,” he says, chuckling quietly. “But you didn’t answer my question.”

“No,” she says with a sigh. “He doesn’t know. And I want to keep it that way, if it’s all the same to you.”

He snorts slightly, then raises his glass and takes a long, drawn-out sip of his drink. “I guess you’re in luck. Even if I wanted to tell him, I doubt there’d be any way now.” He feels her eyes on him as he takes another sip of wine, and he looks sideways at her with raised eyebrows.

“There’s something very disturbing about watching you drink that.”

He laughs and puts the glass down. “Do you really want to have this conversation, Natasha?”

“What conversation? The one about you being a filthy undead blood addict? Or the one about how I would have already made good of my promise by now if we weren’t in quite such a public fucking place?” She narrows her eyes at him, and he holds her gaze for a long moment before looking away with a huff.

“You’re seriously telling me _I’m_ the addict.”

She swallows thickly. He can see her fidgeting with the hem of her dress. “I’m not—”

“Of course not,” he says, shaking his head. Then he pulls his handkerchief from his pocket and holds it out for her. “Your nose is running.”

She blushes, eyes widening, just to show off more of her ridiculously blown pupils. “Thanks,” she says quietly, taking the handkerchief and carefully wiping her nose. She drops it into her lap and looks down, avoiding his gaze. “I… if you do ever speak to… please can you not tell Dominic?” Her voice is quietly urgent.

He swallows, then nods. “I take it you also don’t want him to know that you’re a sex worker.”

Her eyes snap up at his words, and she stares at him for a long moment, all blood draining out of her face. “How did you know?”

“I saw you, last night.”

She slowly shakes her head, and he wonders who she is trying to convince when she says, “I have a job in Sainsbury’s.”

He looks at her with raised eyebrows. “Well, it obviously doesn’t pay for your drug habit.”

“I know what I’m doing, Hal,” she replies, voice going from timid to annoyed in a heartbeat. “I don’t need you to tell me I’m… whatever, immoral.”

“I wasn’t going to say that,” he says calmly, looking down at his glass.

“Oh no?”

“No,” he says, almost automatically. “I was going to ask you to be careful. It’s a dangerous job. I’m sure Dominic would want you to be safe.”

“I’m sure he would as well, but why do _you_ care?”

Hal’s eyes flick up at her, and he can hear an alarm bell going off at the back of his mind. “What do you mean?”

She looks at him for a long time, frowning. “I’m not totally sure, but something about the way you said that… this is personal for you.”

Hal swallows down a sudden lump that is forming in his throat. He doesn’t like what is happening to him in that moment. He doesn’t like the sudden influx of emotion – hurt, fear, panic, fear, helplessness, resignation, fear, fear, _fear_ – into his system. It’s the other one, he knows it. These are not _his_ emotions. He doesn’t feel things like that, he is stronger than that. The other one is still so close to the surface, he just can’t get rid of him this time, whatever he does.

Closing his eyes, he feels his mouth open and hears himself speaking again without his permission. “Well done, Natasha. Even high as a fucking kite you’re still more observant than most people I’ve ever met.”

“Who was it?” she asks, and her voice is quiet and contemplative now, so different from the anger she was displaying only moments before.

Again, his mouth opens, and it’s the other one that speaks. “My mother.”

“That’s… I’m so sorry—”

“And…” He hesitates, squeezes his eyes shut, fights against the sudden urge to open up, to connect, to say it… He’s never actually said it to anyone before. Hinted at, but never _said_. “And me.”

She stares at him with wide eyes, clearly speechless. “You?” she whispers finally.

He nods. “Yes. I was forced into it as a child. I was barely old enough to know what I was doing. I stayed for ten years before I gathered enough courage to decide I’d had enough, and I got on the first ship that got me out of the country.”

Natasha takes in a sharp breath. “Shit, Hal. No wonder you’re so fucked up.”

Hal lets out a small chuckle. “Thanks.”

“No, I mean… god, that’s awful.”

He smiles at her. “I thought you just told me that it’s okay, and that you know what you’re doing?”

“Yes, but I was talking about you,” she replies seriously. “No one should be forced to do that—”

“Because you’re doing it out of your own free will?”

“—at such a young age,” she finishes, and gives him a significant look.

He shakes his head. “I don’t think that’s what’s important here right now.”

Natasha looks down at her lap, and her hands go back to fidgeting with the hem of her dress. “He’ll make life very difficult for me if I don’t—”

“That’s exactly my point, Natasha,” he cuts in, and she looks at him for a long time. Finally, she gives him a small nod.

“Maybe you’re right,” she says. “But there’s nothing I can do about it, so what’s the point.”

He sighs. “The point is that you shouldn’t be forced to do that kind of thing against your will, Natasha. There are always other options.”

“Like what?” she shoots back.

He opens his mouth, but realises that he has no idea what to actually suggest. He meets her eyes, and he sees them narrow as she looks back at him.

“That’s what I thought. Do yourself a favour, Hal, and stop fucking stalking me. Because the next time I see you, if we’re not in the middle of a packed goddamn club, I _will_ stake you.”

He doesn’t even get the chance to reply before she has climbed off the bar stool and disappeared into the crowd. Hal lets out a long sigh and squeezes his eyes shut, slowly feeling the other one shrink back into the small corner of his mind where he normally sits to torment him from a distance. How could he allow him to take over like that? What is wrong with him that he can so easily lose control over himself?

Draining the remainder of his wine in one big gulp, he gets up and makes his way to the exit in long, decisive steps.

He desperately needs a drink.

He is just at the doors, when a voice behind him stops him in his tracks. “Leaving already?”

He turns around and smiles. “Hello, Jen.”


	3. The Offer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, thank you guys so much for reading and leaving kudos!
> 
> This is a little bit of a setup chapter for what's to come...

The truth is that when I am killing in order to survive  
I have never felt so alive  
I am always seeking to live and die on the edge  
Life is a broken simulation, I'm unable to feel  
I'm searching for something that's real  
I am always seeking to see what's behind the veil

\- Muse, “Blockades”

“I don’t usually do this for free.”

Hal turns his head to look at Jen, who is lying on her side, resting her head next to his on the pillow and giving him a slow, contented smile. Her left hand is idly stroking his side, sending a pleasant shiver down his spine that perpetuates his post-orgasmic elation. 

“Guess I’m very lucky, then,” Hal says, his voice deep and sensual. His own hand comes up to play with her long blonde locks.

Jen smiles. “Hmm, must be.” Her smile turns cheeky as she adds, “Poor Callum.”

Hal raises his eyebrows at her. “Callum is your boyfriend? The one from the club?”

“Yeah.” She nods. “He’s kinda okay with knowing that we’re not exclusive… because of what I do, you know...” she drifts off and looks away, suddenly shy.

Hal moves his hand to her face, strokes his fingers along the soft skin of her cheek. “Hey, no, it’s okay. You don’t have to feel bad about anything. You’re beautiful, and you’ve been put into a difficult situation. Don’t ever feel like you’re worth any less because of that.”

She gives him a small smile. “Easy for you to say. But thanks. I appreciate it.” Her eyes are big and serene, her pupils almost back to a normal size now. “How long have you known Natasha?” she asks then, obviously keen to change the subject.

He thinks for a moment and says, “About six months.”

“Huh. Wasn’t that just around the time when she just up and left to stay with her fella in Wales?”

Hal feels a sharp stab in his chest at her words. With all the nonchalance he can muster, ignoring the unpleasant feeling, he repeats, “Her fella in Wales?”

“Yeah. Older guy. Can’t remember his name. D something.”

“Dominic,” Hal says, and it sounds almost robotic.

Jen’s brow furrows. “You know him?”

Hal lets out a hollow laugh despite himself. “Yes. You could say that.”

“That sounds like there’s some history there,” Jen says, eyes narrowing. “Am I right?”

He nods. “Yes. He and I… well. It’s all in the past now. I don’t want to talk about it.”

Her hand on his side stills and she looks straight into his eyes. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out for you.”

“Don’t be,” he says, thumb stroking over her bottom lip. “It’s better this way.”

He leans in and places a gentle kiss on her lips, eliciting a lovely little hum from her that vibrates against his own mouth. Her hand moves from his side to the back of his head, and her tongue comes out, gently licking at his bottom lip, a silent question to deepen the kiss. He feels himself responding to her request before he even knows what he is doing, and a moment later feels the well-known itch in his gums that signals his fangs trying to extend. He has to concentrate hard to fight the urge, but it is not time yet.

Jen, obviously aware that something is wrong, pulls back and gives him a quizzical look. “Hal? What’s going on?”

Hal keeps his hand on her cheek, thumb rubbing slow circles over her skin. He takes in her big, brown eyes, full of concern, her honey blonde hair spread out around her on the pillow. She reminds him of someone. Of one of them… what was her name? Catherine. She died of syphilis when he was only twelve. He is almost ninety-nine percent sure that she wasn’t his mother, but that doesn’t change the fact that he deeply cared about her either way. Hal blinks, shakes himself, wonders for a moment where that strange, intrusive thought had come from. Then, in a split-second decision, he looks deep into her eyes and says, “Jen… there is… I can give you a way out of all of this, if you want it.”

Her brow furrows slightly as she looks at him, and there is an accusatory edge to her voice when she speaks. “What do you mean? That you’re going to _save me_ like some cheap reenactment of _Pretty Woman_?”

Now it is Hal’s turn to frown. “Of what?”

That elicits a small laugh from Jen for some reason, making Hal’s frown deepen. When he continues to just look at her expectantly, she must be finally taking pity on him as she says, “The film? _Pretty Woman_? Have you never seen it?”

Hal huffs a laugh. “No. I’m not very big on… films.”

Jen gives him a nervous smile. “Can I ask you a question?”

Hal nods. “Of course.”

“You know at the club,” she starts, and her hand wanders back down the side of his arm, making him shiver, “Tasha said that you’re ‘older than you look’.” She gives him a meaningful look, which he returns with a playful smile.

“Yes?” he asks.

She rolls her eyes and asks, “How old are you?”

“That’s a very direct question,” he says with a laugh, but then his expression turns serious and he regards her for a long moment. Her brow furrows again, unsettled by his long silence. “Five hundred and twenty-two,” he says eventually.

Her eyes grow huge for a moment, before they narrow and she slaps him lightly on the arm. “Bastard. I was being serious.”

He looks straight into her eyes and replies, “So was I.”

She watches him for a moment, clearly waiting for him to give her any indication that he is joking, and then she shakes her head. “Bullshit.”

He gives her his most charming smile. “You know I was saying I could give you a way out of this?” She nods, and he continues, “What if I could also give you immortality?”

She laughs nervously. “What are you, some kind of vampire or something?”

Hal barks out a laugh of his own at her words. “Well done, Jen. Got it in one.”

“You’re being serious.” It’s a statement, not a question, and he watches in amusement as her eyes grow big as saucers again. “You’re telling me vampires are real?”

“Oh yes,” Hal says, and closes his eyes for a moment before opening them again and taking in the shift in colour and brightness that comes with his eyes turning black. He watches her recoil for a moment, but then, to his surprise, she stops moving and takes in his changed appearance with wide eyes. 

“Wow.”

“You’re not afraid,” he states, and she shakes her head.

“No.” 

Hal lets out a small chuckle. “Well, that’s a first.”

“Why should I be afraid? What’s the worst thing you can do to me?” Without waiting for a reply, she looks directly into his black eyes and continues, “So, you’re offering me immortality. As a vampire?”

He nods. “If you want it.”

“Why me?” she asks almost immediately.

He takes a moment to think, then says, truthfully, “I like you. And I want to help you.”

She looks at him, unmoving, obviously considering his offer, and her strange calmness is starting to unsettle Hal. His gums start itching again, and this time he sees no point in trying to prevent his fangs from coming out. He can see the minute flick of her eyes down to his open mouth, and the urge to taste her is growing stronger by the second.

After what seems like a small eternity, she shakes her head, the barest of movements, and says, “No. Thank you very much for the offer, but I don’t want to live forever.”

“Jen, think about it—”

“No. I’m sorry, Hal. You may have found the prospect appealing when it was offered to you, but I don’t want to spend any more time in this fucked up world than strictly necessary.”

She starts to turn away, but he never gives her the chance as he springs into action at lightning speed, pinning her to the bed and sinking his fangs into her neck. The delicious liquid flows into his mouth and he closes his eyes and lets out a pleased little moan as his system is hit by a heady mixture of blood, cocaine and alcohol. It is almost too much for him to take, but he also finds himself completely incapable of stopping. He feels her go limp underneath him and pulls back, giving her a long look as he distractedly licks stray drops of blood from his lips. Her wide, expressionless eyes stare right back at him. 

He is starting to feel lightheaded and it is becoming hard for him to focus his thoughts. The blood rush hasn’t been this powerful for years. He is faintly aware that he needs to get his things and leave the hotel room, but he just can’t bring himself to move right now. The room is booked until tomorrow morning, after all. He can allow himself a nap.

“Shame, Jen,” he mumbles as he lies down on the bed next to her unmoving form. “I think you and I could’ve gone far together.”

The next moment, everything goes black.

***

Dominic leaves the tube station and walks along the busy road in the direction of his flat. He keeps his head down as he is swept along with the throng of people on the pavement at the fast pace that is typical of Londoners. It’s as if everyone is chronically late to get anywhere, even going home after work.

Dominic rummages in his coat pocket for his key and doesn’t notice the figure that his huddled on the front step until he nearly stumbles over them.

“I’m so sorry,” Dominic mutters, not giving the figure another look as he steps around them and goes to open the front door.

“Dominic?”

He freezes. He will recognise that voice anywhere, at any time, and it cuts into his heart like a knife. Slowly turning around, he croaks around the quickly forming lump in his throat, “Tasha.”

“Hey,” she says, looking down, not meeting his eyes. He gives her a good look, takes in her army green parka that looks too warm for the mild summer evening, which she is wearing over a black vest top, a pair of denim shorts that are so short she might as well not wear them at all, and black tights. “Can I… Can I come in? I need to speak to you about… something.” Her voice is hoarse and cracked, and he frowns.

“Of course, Tasha.”

He holds the door open for her, then steps inside himself and calls the lift. There is a somewhat uncomfortable silence as they wait, with neither of them seeming to know what to say. Natasha is still not meeting his eyes, and his frown deepens. Something is obviously not right here.

The lift arrives with a chime of the bell, and they step inside. More uncomfortable silence follows. It’s only when Dominic opens the door to his flat and gestures for her to get inside, that she gives him a fleeting look and a smile. Her eyes are bloodshot, he notices, and she is sniffling. She looks like she has been crying.

They walk in silence through to the living room, where she immediately ambles over to the armchair and flops down in it, and for a moment Dominic has an almost overwhelming feeling of déjà vu. He lets out a small, involuntary chuckle.

“Would you like a cup of tea?” he asks, and she turns around to him, a minute smile forming on her face. 

“I’d love one, thanks.”

He goes into the kitchen and as quickly as humanly possible brews two cups of English Afternoon blend. He carries them back through to the living room, where Natasha is still sitting in the armchair, one leg folded under her in that way that is so painfully familiar that it makes Dominic’s throat constrict. God, he has missed her.

She looks up at him as he places the steaming mug down on the table in front of her, and gives him a grateful smile, grasping the mug in both hands and just holding it for a moment, drawing comfort from it. He sits down across from her and takes a sip of his own tea. 

After what seems like a small eternity, she looks up at him and says, “It’s nice to see you.”

He gives her a heartfelt smile. “You too, Tasha.”

“How have you been?” she asks then, sounding suspiciously nonchalant. He narrows his eyes slightly.

“I’m… all right,” he says, and she throws him a sharp look.

“Are you really?” He doesn’t reply straight away, so she continues, “Because I’d be very surprised if you were, after what happened.”

Dominic’s eyes widen. “What do you mean, after what happened?” 

_What does she know?_

“I talked to your undead freak,” she says then, and his heart skips a beat.

“You’ve spoken to Hal?” His voice is barely a whisper. She nods. “When?”

“Couple of nights ago. Had a surprisingly deep and meaningful conversation with him, for a homicidal nutcase.” She stops and takes a shaky breath, bracing herself for what comes next. “That’s until my friend disappeared.”

He looks at her sharply. “You think…” He finds he can’t say it, can’t allow himself to even think it.

“I _know_ it was him. Shit, I introduced her to him.” She pauses, looking down at the mug in her hand. “God, I swear to you, Dominic, if I ever see him again—”

“Yes, I know, you’ve said that before.” He finds it difficult to keep the indignation out of his voice. Hearing her talk about Hal like that is so much more painful than he ever thought possible.

Natasha lets out a snort. “Wow. So I tell you Hal attacked and killed one of my friends, and you’re still sitting there basically defending him. How the fuck can you live with yourself?”

Dominic looks down at his hands, takes a deep breath. “You can’t possibly be sure it was him.”

Then he remembers something Alex said the other day—

 _“That_ thing _is not our Hal anymore.”_

—and he sighs deeply. Looking up at her, he sees her staring back at him with wide eyes.

“Please don’t tell me you still have feelings for that creep.”

He holds her gaze, a lot more steadily than he feels. “You know I do.”

She is the first to look away, taking a sip of tea before asking, “Are you going to tell me what happened? Hal seemed very cagey about the whole thing.”

Dominic can’t help the mirthless chuckle that bursts out of his chest. “I bet he was.”

“So, you gonna tell me?”

He looks back into her eyes and slowly shakes his head. “No, Tasha, I’m not.”

A slow, sad smile spreads across her face, and it takes him a moment to be able to place it. “That bad, huh?”

He sighs and averts his eyes. “Yes.” Silence falls for a long moment, and when he looks back in her direction, he sees that she is still holding her mug with one hand, while the other is tapping restlessly on her thigh. He hesitates for a moment before he asks his next question. “Would you mind… can you tell me… what you talked about?”

Her eyes snap up at him. They are hard and accusing. “No.”

He lets out a deep sigh. “Listen, Tasha, for what it’s worth, I’m really sorry about your friend. I hope she will turn up again soon and that it was all a misunderstand—”

“No! Don’t say it, Dominic. I know what happened, I _know_ it was him! Just because you can’t deal with the fact that your lover is a ruthless killer doesn’t mean it’s not happening.” She jumps to her feet and starts pacing around the room, but never takes her eyes off of him. “And no, I’m not going to tell you what we talked about, seeing as you couldn’t even answer the simplest of my questions.” 

There’s more to it than that, he can tell, but he also knows that there is no point in pursuing the issue any further. Almost involuntarily, he brings up his thumb to press into his left wrist in an attempt to calm his fraying nerves. If Natasha notices the movement, she chooses not to comment.

Dominic decides that the best way forward from here would be a change in topic. “So Tasha, how have you been?” he asks carefully, and she comes to a stop in front of the coffee table, looking down for the briefest moment before lifting her eyes back up to him. 

“I’m okay.” 

He knows her well enough by now to know that this means she is everything but okay. “Where are you staying?” His voice is quiet and encouraging.

She looks away, gazing out of the large bay window. “With a friend.” Her voice carries only the barest hint of tension, but he picks up on it straight away.

He frowns. “A friend? Male friend?”

She whips around and locks accusing eyes on him. “What’s it to you?”

“I was just asking, Tasha.”

She lets out a sigh, and her eyes lose some of their storminess. “Sorry. Yes, a male friend. I’m fine, all right?”

He hesitates for a moment, then nods. “All right. Just please, promise me to keep yourself safe.”

Her eyes narrow, and she lets out a hollow laugh. “Because you are such a great role model for that.”

“No, I’m not. I know that. But that doesn’t mean that I want to see you get hurt.” He looks straight into her eyes. “Please Natasha, promise me you’ll be safe.”

She averts her eyes and turns back to the window, and he lets out a resigned sigh. Something is clearly not right, but he knows her well enough to know that she’s not going to let him in. She never has. 

“You can always stay here, if you want,” he offers. She shakes her head.

“Thanks for the offer, but no. Actually, you know what, I should go.” She turns back around to face him, and he can see tear tracks down both of her cheeks that weren’t there only a few minutes ago. “It was… nice to see you again, Dominic.”

He gets to his feet, takes a couple of steps towards her, then hovers awkwardly, not sure what to do. “It was nice to see you, too.”

Her eyes bore into him then, pleading. “You have to do something about Hal. You can’t just let him do what he does, or those women’s blood is on your hands, too.”

He swallows thickly. He knows she’s right. Hell, he had almost the same conversation with Alex, and with Casselli. He knows he needs to do something. As long as the something doesn’t involve stakes.

“I won’t kill him,” he says seriously.

“Fine.” She nods. “Do something else then. But _do_ something. I think you’re the only person who can possibly get through to him.”

He squeezes his eyes shut for a moment, gathering himself. “Okay. I’ll see what I can do.”

Opening his eyes again, he can clearly see the relief in hers. “Thank you,” she says, before she does something highly unusual. She steps forward, throws her arms around him, and presses a feather-light kiss to his cheek. He can feel himself blushing, and she lets go of him almost as quickly as she initiated the contact.

“Tasha—”

“Err, just… forget that, okay,” she says distractedly and turns on her heels. She is almost at the front door when she throws another look over her shoulder, taking him in where he is standing in the doorway to the living room, seemingly rooted to the spot. She bites her lip and says, “I missed you.” 

Before he even has a chance to respond, the door has fallen shut behind her.

***

Paul shuts the cardboard folder on his desk, the image of SJ031’s twentieth victim still fresh in his mind. The young woman was found naked in a hotel bed, with two Type 2 puncture marks in her neck. The hotel clerk confirmed that two people checked in, but when the woman was found by hotel staff the next morning, the man was nowhere to be found. CCTV, surprisingly, didn’t show anyone entering or leaving the room, although the door surprisingly opened and then closed again around half past two in the morning. Paul lets out an exasperated sigh. It seems like however close they get to the wretched Type 2, he always manages to just slip through their fingers. It is absolutely infuriating. 

Looking up from his desk, he sees DC Lee Carter entering the office with two mugs of tea in his hands and another cardboard folder squeezed under his arm. Walking over to Paul’s desk, he puts one mug down in front of him. 

“Thanks, Lee,” Paul says and lifts up the mug. “Have you or Jason found anything?”

Lee shakes his head. “No, sir. She lived in a house share with three other young women, but she’d only moved in recently, and they didn’t know her that well. Said that one other girl came to visit her occasionally, as well as a young man, who they thought was her boyfriend. He didn’t fit the Type 2’s description.”

Paul nods thoughtfully. “Of course not. He’s not known to build up relationships with his victims over a prolonged period of time.” Looking up at Lee, he adds, “What about the other girl?”

Lee opens the file in his hand and rummages through a couple of pages until he finds what he is looking for. “Tasha something, they didn’t know her last name. One of them hinted that both her and Jenna were sex workers.”

Paul frowns. “What kind of sex workers? Prostitutes?”

Lee gives a small nod. “I believe so, yes.”

“Do we know if this Tasha was at the club with her? Or if she has seen anything?”

“No,” Lee shakes his head. “We haven’t been able to track her down yet, sir.” 

Lee walks over to his own desk and places down his tea and the file before taking a seat. Paul watches him for a moment, taking a sip of his own tea. His thoughts circle around what he knows about the twenty victims, about their similarities and differences, and, as so often happens, come to focus on the one almost-victim that so stubbornly defies the Type 2’s usual pattern. He has come to the conclusion that SJ031 is targeting pretty young women primarily _because_ they are notably different from Dominic Rook. Because somewhere in that warped, undead brain of his, there appears to be a part of him that still cares about his human lover. Which _could_ be of immense value for him and his team, if only he could actually persuade Dominic Rook to assist them.

Paul is jolted from his thoughts by his phone ringing on his desk. He checks the caller ID and frowns. Speak of the proverbial devil.

Lifting the receiver to his ear, he says, “Casselli.”

“I would like to offer you a deal.” Rook’s voice is frosty and reserved, but he gets straight to the point.

Paul needs a moment to fully process what has been said. “What kind of deal?” he asks finally.

“I need your help with something,” Rook states and Paul frowns. Before he gets a chance to ask a question, however, Rook already continues, “In return, I can offer to take Hal off your hands and make sure he doesn’t cause you any more trouble. But I will do it on my terms, no Special Branch involvement.”

Paul lets out a long sigh. “What do you need?” he asks warily. Rook would not be making him this offer if it wasn’t a very serious issue.

“Do you remember what I told you when you came to see me in hospital… about the Devil?”

Paul’s breath hitches. “Yes, I remember.”

“I have a lead,” Rook continues. “A vam— a Type 2 by the name of Regus, who is known in Type 2 circles as the ‘Vampire Recorder’. He is a kind of… archivist of ancient Type 2 legends and lore. There is a good chance that he might know something about this ritual to destroy the Devil.”

Paul takes a moment to think about this new information. “You want to enlist _another_ Type 2 to help?” he asks finally, frowning. “Did you learn nothing from your previous mistakes? These creatures… they’re not trustworthy.”

Rook’s voice becomes a few degrees more icy when he replies, “Don’t you try and lecture me on the dangers of Type 2s, Inspector Casselli. I have been working with these ‘creatures’ for the last twenty years, and let me tell you that my department would never have been anywhere near as successful as we were without our Type 2 and Type 3 informants. I believe that this Type 2 is our only real lead in finding out about this ritual. It is worth a try, at least.”

Paul sighs. “I take it you want me to put you in touch with the Type 2.”

“Yes,” Rook replies instantly. It is a quality Paul can appreciate in him, he has to admit. He doesn’t beat around the bush.

“I agree, on one condition,” Paul says.

“What condition?”

Paul swallows. Rook is not going to like this. But then again, it’s his professional duty to make sure things are done in the right way, and whatever Rook says, Paul can’t say he trusts him to not put himself at unnecessary risk. “We are going to do this together,” he says. Rook, predictably, sighs.

“Inspector, I really don’t think—”

“We’re doing this together, or no deal. Your choice.” Paul’s voice is firm and leaves no room for negotiation. 

Rook doesn’t reply for a long time, obviously mulling over the offer he has been given. Eventually, he clears his throat and says, “Fine. But, Inspector, I strongly suggest that you follow my lead in this. The last thing we want is to scare him off.”

Paul lets out a humourless chuckle. “Scare him off? A Type 2?”

“Remember that we are going to ask him to cooperate with us. We won’t achieve that with brute force.”

Paul sighs, but feels that he doesn’t have much of a choice in the matter. “All right.”

“Thank you, Inspector.”

“And in return you will deal with SJ031 for us?” Paul continues, and even through the phone line he can hear Rook wince at his address of the Type 2.

“That’s what I said.” Rook’s voice sounds the slightest bit strangled. Paul waits for a moment for him to continue, but all he gets is silence on the other end of the line.

“What are you planning to do?” he asks carefully. 

“I don’t think that’s any of your business, Inspector,” Rook answers, and Paul rolls his eyes.

“You can’t expect me to just take your word that you’re going to do the right thing, Mr Rook. You clearly have an emotional investment in this matter. I don’t feel I can trust your judgement in this case.”

Rook sighs. “You can trust me to want Hal to stop killing people more than anyone exactly for that reason, Inspector.”

Paul takes a moment to think about this. Rook’s romantic involvement with the Type 2 is something he simply can’t get his head around, however much he may try. But the fact remains that this sensible, intelligent man fell in love with a vicious monster. Paul can’t help but believe him when he says that he wants that monster to stop killing, but how far is he really willing to go to stop him? Is it going to be enough? And what power does the monster still have over the man? Will the Type 2 be able to influence him, to make him do his bidding somehow? Paul can’t possibly risk that happening.

On the other hand, what other choices does he realistically have?

Paul brings a hand up to his face and rubs it hard over his forehead and eyes as he weighs up his options. Is he actually considering agreeing to this? It would get SJ031 off the streets, sure, but at what cost?

As Paul lifts his hand away from his eyes and looks down at his desk, his eyes fall on the cardboard folder lying there. He carefully opens it to the first page and takes in the picture of the pretty young woman lying on the bed, eyes wide open in naked horror at what happened to her in the last few moments of her life. He has the chance right here to put an end to this horror.

“Inspector?” Rook asks, and only then does Paul realise that he has been silent for all this time.

He clears his throat, takes a deep breath, and comes to a decision. “Mr Rook, you’ve got yourself a deal.”


	4. The Vampire Recorder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you once again for reading!
> 
> This chapter kind of ran away with me, and I didn't make it to where I really wanted to get in this, but I felt it was a good idea to stop it where I did. I'm already working on Chapter 5, so it hopefully won't be too much of a wait.
> 
> Enjoy!

I don't wanna sleep  
'Cause I've had enough  
Of the same ugly dream  
I just can't switch it off

\- Royal Blood, “Sleep”

_Dominic’s eyes flutter open, and he allows them a moment to adjust to the light. The curtains are drawn, but there are rays of sunlight peeking in through the gaps, bathing the room in a warm glow. In front of him – next to him, on the pillow – his eyes slowly focus to take in what he has come to recognise as his favourite sight in the world. Golden hazel eyes gaze straight back at him, the skin around them crinkling in a gentle, happy smile._

_“Good morning, beautiful.” Hal’s voice is deep and the slightest bit husky. Dominic feels a blush creeping into his cheeks._

_“Good morning,” he replies. “Sleep well?”_

_“Of course. I always do when I’m with you.”_

_Dominic notices Hal’s eyes fall away from his face and onto_ that spot _on his neck, and his blush intensifies. Hal’s fingers come up to lightly stroke over the sensitive skin on his neck, sending a shiver down his spine, and he can’t hold back the little whimper that escapes his mouth._

_Hal lets out a deep chuckle in response. “You really are insatiable, aren’t you?” he asks._

_Dominic gives a slow nod. “I suppose so.”_

_He leans in and presses his lips against Hal’s and a feather-light kiss, and he feels Hal respond immediately. Their lips move against each other with a brilliant mix of familiarity and excitement. They know each other so well by now, and yet, every time they come together like this feels brand new and exhilarating. Hal moans against his mouth, the air vibration on his lips making his stomach flutter wildly._

_“Hal…” he breathes against his lips. Hal’s tongue comes out to seek entrance to his mouth, and he gladly grants it, meets it with his own in a fierce battle that neither of them ever wins._

_Hal’s hand wanders down from his neck and over his bare chest, lightly stroking over one of his nipples, then the other one, and Dominic hears himself whimpering again without having any conscious control over it._

_“Hmm… I love you,” Hal whispers against his mouth, and Dominic can tell that he is getting slightly breathless._

_“Love you too,” he replies, just as Hal’s cool fingers move even further down and brush against his erection, and he moans loudly._

_He can feel more than hear Hal’s quiet chuckle against his mouth at his reaction. Hal’s practised fingers close around his hard length and start to slowly move up and down, sending shivers down his spine, giving him goose bumps._

_“Hal,” he moans. “Oh god.”_

_He should really reciprocate in some way, his brain is trying to tell him, but he is too far gone to really do much of anything at all. Hal’s hand is speeding up now, thumb expertly flicking over the head, all the while Hal’s tongue is still plundering his mouth, and it is all getting too much too fast. With another loud moan, he spills his load over Hal’s hand and his own stomach, and he turns his head away from Hal’s for a moment to take in a few much needed gulps of air._

_“Wow, Hal, that was—”_

_He is brought up short as he looks back towards Hal and sees that his beautiful hazel eyes have shifted to black, and he is now looking at Dominic with naked hunger in his gaze._

_“Hal?” he asks hesitantly, but Hal doesn’t reply. Just continues to look at him like that, like he is his favourite meal. Which is probably the truth, after all. “Hal, what’s going on? Are you all right?” he tries again, shifting slightly away from him._

_“Dominic,” Hal says. His voice has changed, and Dominic’s blood runs cold when he realises what is happening. “You’re so beautiful.”_

_Hal’s hand comes up to his face, fingers cupping his cheek, thumb brushing over his mouth. Dominic fights the urge to recoil from the touch, forces himself to lie still._

_“I want to taste you, my Dominic,” Hal says then, and moves his head down into the crook of his neck. Dominic knows what is going to happen next, of course, but still lets out a slight hiss as Hal’s fangs pierce his skin, where the wounds from last night have barely scabbed over. Dominic tries and fails to fight his treacherous body’s response to the sensation as Hal sucks on his neck with more and more urgency. He is faintly aware that Hal continues drinking for far longer than he should. He should really have stopped him by now, shouldn’t he?_

_Through the haze of arousal, he can feel his mind slowly slipping away, can feel himself become enveloped by darkness, and he embraces it. It’s better than what is really happening, isn’t it? That welcoming, peaceful darkness. He is overcome by a feeling of inner peace and serenity unlike anything he has felt in a long time, and he gives up the fight and lets it consume him._

Dominic starts awake with a gasp, and his eyes fly open, wildly darting around the room. He is alone in bed, in his bedroom in London. Of course he is, where else would he be? Dominic closes his eyes and lies back against the pillow, taking a few deep breaths and trying to control his racing heart. 

The dreams started while he was still in hospital. He had them almost every night at first, but they became less frequent over the next couple of months. Unfortunately, with everything that has happened recently, with the way he constantly seems to be reminded of him, of their time together, the dreams have come back with a vengeance. While they are never quite the same every night, they always follow a familiar pattern, and always end with him dying. 

Dominic takes one last, deep breath and sits up in bed. His eyes fall on his left wrist, on the two small marks there, and he subconsciously picks at the scab on one of them until it falls off, the sharp pain making him wince and causing a slow trickle of blood from the reopened cut. He brings his wrist up to his mouth to soothe the sore flesh, but the metallic taste of the blood on his tongue makes him feel nauseous. It is too much of a reminder, too difficult to deal with right now. He drops his arm and swings his legs out of bed.

He is just about to enter the bathroom when he hears his phone vibrate briefly on the bedside table. With a frown, he turns back and takes a look at the screen.

**Hey Blondie, you decent?**

Dominic chuckles quietly to himself as he reads Alex’s message. _I guess I can count myself lucky that she even asks this time,_ he thinks. Usually she just drops in. He quickly types out a reply.

_**Almost. Give me ten minutes.**_

**Cool. See you in ten.**

With a small sigh, he puts the phone down and makes his way back towards the bathroom, this time actually making it to the shower without any further interruptions. He strips down and steps into the warm spray, thoughts wandering back to Alex. He knows why she is coming, and it is not exactly a social visit. She’s coming to go over their ridiculous plan on how to ‘deal with Hal’, as he so delicately put it to Detective Inspector Casselli, one final time. And probably to check in with him about what’s happening with Regus. 

Dominic washes his hair and body in record time, wraps a large bath towel around his waist and makes his way back to the bedroom. He can still feel adrenaline pumping through his system from his dream, and his fingers fumble aimlessly to close the buttons on his shirt. 

“Hey, Blondie, calm down. What’s going on?” Alex’s voice suddenly chimes up from the doorway, making him jump. 

“Jesus, Alex, knock?” he snaps, glaring in her direction. 

Alex huffs. “Oh, you really don’t want to know how much you sound like him right now.”

Dominic’s eyes narrow. “You’re right. I don’t.”

Alex sighs and says, “Here, let me,” before pushing his hands away and doing up his buttons for him. In just a few seconds, she is done.

“Thanks,” he says sheepishly, and then, “Sorry, I didn’t sleep well.”

“Bad dream?” Alex asks innocently, and he curses the fact that he can’t see the expression on her face.

He decides that honesty can’t hurt in this circumstance and nods. “Yes.”

She sighs. “It’s understandable, you know. What you went through… it was pretty traumatic. Shit, I think if I was still able to dream, I’d have one nightmare after another.”

He looks down and gives her another small nod, before making his way into the kitchen. He can feel her following along behind him. 

“So, I’ve spoken to Tom, and he’s got everything ready,” she says as he fills up the kettle and puts it on to boil. “He says we can go ahead straight after the full moon.”

He whirls around to face her. “That’s three weeks from now,” he points out with a frown.

“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger,” Alex replies. “It’s what he told me. ’Wait until after the full moon.’ Guess he’s going to have to make alternative arrangements for himself.”

Dominic’s frown deepens. “And that takes him more than three weeks?”

“Apparently. Listen, Dominic, we have to all work together on this. If Tom says the place isn’t ready until then, I guess we’ll have to go with it, unless you have a better idea.”

Dominic sighs. “No. No, I don’t. I… don’t even know if I like this one. I just… I’ve got a feeling that he’s too far gone this time, you know?”

There is a silence for a long moment, and Dominic takes the opportunity to pour the boiling water into his mug and put two slices of bread into the toaster.

“I know what you mean. But we have to try.” 

“Yes, we do.” Dominic busies himself with making his toast and tea, and they sit in silence for a while as he eats. The silence is interrupted as the doorbell rings. Dominic’s head shoots up towards the sound, and he frowns.

“Expecting anyone?” Alex asks.

“No.” He slowly gets up and makes his way to the front door. “Hello?” he says into the intercom.

“Dominic?” Natasha’s voice comes through the tinny speaker. “I’m sorry to disturb you, can I come up?”

Dominic swallows. He didn’t expect her to come back so soon. “Of course, Tasha.” 

He presses the door release and makes sure he can hear the buzzing sound through the speaker before he turns around to where he can sense Alex standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

“You never told me you’re back in touch with her,” Alex says, and he can her the slightest hint of accusation in her voice.

He sighs. “I’m sorry, Alex. With everything else that’s been going on, I forgot to mention it. She came to see me earlier in the week to tell me…” he drifts off, not sure how to phrase the next bit.

“Tell you what, Dominic?”

“She’s spoken to Hal,” he blurts out, and he can hear Alex’s sharp intake of breath.

“When? Where?”

“At some night club, about a week ago. Apparently he—” 

But he never gets to finish that sentence, as at that moment he can hear the lift arrive outside and turns to open the door for Natasha. She appears in the doorway, looking paler than the last time he saw her, with dark rings under red-rimmed eyes like she hasn’t been getting enough sleep. 

“Hey,” she greets him with a hesitant smile. There is definitely something not right, Dominic thinks as he does his best to return the smile.

“Nice to see you again, Tasha,” he says and steps back to let her in. She takes a few hesitant steps inside, then hovers halfway down the hallway as if unsure what to do next. “Would you like some breakfast?” Dominic asks. “I’m just having mine.”

This actually elicits a bit more of a smile from her. “Thanks, I’d love some breakfast. And a cup of tea.” There is a glint in her eyes as she says this, a little hint of the old Tasha, and it makes him smile.

“Of course, Tasha,” he says mock-seriously, and she lets out a small laugh. 

“Wow, what the hell happened to her?” Alex pipes up then, and Dominic whirls around to where he can sense her sitting at the kitchen island. He’d all but forgotten that she was there.

“Dominic? You okay?” Natasha asks, brow furrowed as she follows the direction of his gaze. 

“Yes, it’s…” he thinks for a moment, and decides that it’s not worth keeping this a secret from her. “It’s Alex. She’s here.”

Natasha looks around herself with a frown. “Alex? As in, the ghost?”

“Yes, Tasha, that’s me,” Alex says with a sigh. “I’d almost forgotten how awkward this was the first time.”

Dominic does his best to ignore her and nods at Natasha. “Yes. She’s sitting right there.” He points at the chair Alex is occupying. 

Natasha’s frown deepens as she looks between the chair and Dominic. “How can you… I thought you can only hear her over the phone?”

“Ooh, you haven’t told her the news?” Alex asks, and Dominic glares at her.

Turning back to Natasha, he says, “My… ability has changed. Grown. So I can now hear Alex without the help of the phone.”

Natasha’s eyes narrow as she takes a seat at the kitchen island as far away as possible from the ghost. “How come?”

Dominic busies himself with getting her breakfast ready for a moment, thinking about what he can possibly say in response to that. 

“Hold on, she doesn’t know, does she? That he killed you?” Alex asks, and Dominic inconspicuously shakes his head.

“No.”

“What?” Natasha asks immediately, but then seems to cotton on. “Oh. You were talking to her, right?”

Dominic places her toast and tea on the table in front of her, then takes his own seat across from the two of them. “Yes, sorry, Tasha. If you would like to talk to me alone, I can ask her to leave.”

Natasha lifts the mug to her lips and takes a large sip of tea before answering. “No. It’s okay. Although… I’ve got to say, Dominic, this is fucking weird,” she says with that small, crooked smile that he has missed so much.

“Sorry,” he says again.

“No, really, don’t be. What I’ve got to tell you… it’s probably good if she hears it, too.” She looks once again between him and the empty chair, then continues, “I was right. About Jen.”

“Who’s Jen?” Alex pipes up. 

Dominic frowns for a moment, silently asking himself the same question, but then the pieces fall into place. “Your friend who’s gone missing.”

Natasha nods and takes a bite of toast. Silence falls for a long moment while she chews. Eventually, she looks up into his eyes and says, “Police came looking for me yesterday. Asked me lots of questions about Hal.”

Dominic’s eyes widen. “They did?”

“Yeah.” She takes another bite of toast, and Dominic can feel a lump forming in his throat.

“What did they ask?” he asks hoarsely. 

Just at that same moment, Alex chimes in, “I thought you agreed with Casselli that we’re going to deal with Hal?”

He looks over at her and gives her a small nod. “I did, but I guess he’ll still have to investigate this girl’s disappearance.”

Natasha gives him a quizzical look. “You did what?”

Dominic sighs and glares at Alex before answering, “I spoke to the Special Branch detective and agreed with him that I will—”

“ _We_ will,” Alex throws in.

“—that _we_ will take Hal off his hands.”

Natasha’s brow furrows. “You and Alex?”

“And Tom,” he adds, before he remembers what significance the young werewolf holds for her.

Natasha flinches almost imperceptibly and averts her eyes. Dominic takes a deep breath and is about to continue talking when Natasha turns away from him towards Alex and asks, “How is he?”

“He’s getting on with his life,” Alex says, and Dominic is about to relay it back to Natasha when she adds, “But I know that he misses you.”

Dominic says as much, and he can see Natasha’s eyes go the slightest bit glassy before she averts her gaze again, staring at the toast on her plate.

“So, this police guy, Carter I think his name was? He asked me if I’d seen Hal at the club, and if I’d spoken to him. If I’d ever seen him there before. He didn’t seem to know very much about him at all, to be honest.”

“Did you tell him anything, Tasha?” Dominic asks urgently.

She looks up at him with narrowed eyes and shakes her head. “No, of course not. I’m not stupid.”

“Never said you were.”

“Then stop treating me like a fucking child,” she snaps, and he has to consciously bite his tongue to not rise to the obvious challenge.

“That wasn’t my intention, Tasha,” he says, as calmly as he can.

She doesn’t respond at first, staring holes into the table top, and when she speaks again, it’s almost too quiet for him to pick up. “She hasn’t disappeared.”

Dominic frowns. “Jen?” 

Natasha nods. “She was found dead in some hotel room. ’Strangled’, is the story they tried to sell me.” She huffs and pauses, then continues with venom in her voice, “Apparently she was naked in bed when they found her. Looks like Hal decided to have some fun with her before he killed her.”

Dominic feels like someone has punched him in the chest. He tries to take a breath and finds that he can’t. He is faintly aware that Natasha is still speaking. Or is it Alex? He’s not really sure. 

“Well, I guess it’s up to him who he wants to have sex with. We’re not exactly exclusive anymore,” he hears himself say, but his voice sounds foreign, and he didn’t consciously choose to say those words. His right hand comes up to rub on his left wrist. He can feel the fresh scab come loose, and he works it until it has fallen off completely. The sharp pain manages to ground him somewhat, and he looks up to see Natasha staring at him with a deep frown on her face.

“I’m sorry,” she says, and he can tell how difficult she finds it to say those words. “I know you still care about him.”

He swallows and nods, opens his mouth, but doesn’t have any idea what to say. 

“Anyway,” Natasha continues, slightly too loudly in the quiet kitchen, and his eyes are drawn to her hands fidgeting with the sleeves of her dress. “My… friend, the one I live with… he wasn’t all too happy about me ‘bringing police to our doorstep’,” she says, eyes fixed once more on the table top.

Alarm bells ring in Dominic’s mind immediately, and he gives her an intense look. “Did he do anything to hurt you, Tasha?” he asks urgently.

She jerkily shakes her head, still not making eye contact. “No. Well, he threatened to, but he didn’t actually _do_ anything.” Then, finally, she looks up at him, and her eyes are pleading. Her words are almost stumbling over each other when she continues, “But that’s kinda why I came here this morning… I didn’t really know where else… a-and I remembered that you offered the other day… so I thought that maybe I could… I don’t know… stay? For a few days?”

Dominic finds himself nodding before he has even fully processed what she has said. “Of course, Tasha. As long as you’re happy sleeping on the sofa.”

She gives him a small, grateful smile. “You know I am. And really, it’s only going to be for a few days. I… I can’t stay. There’s… things I need to do.” 

“Stay as long as you like, Tasha,” he says, and there is a warmth filling his insides at the thought of her staying with him that he can’t explain. 

“Thanks,” she says, and looks between him and Alex’s chair with a thoughtful expression on her face. “So, you gonna fill me in on this great plan of yours?”

***

Paul sits in his car outside the expensive-looking Victorian terrace, waiting for Dominic Rook to join him for the two hour drive to Cambridge. He still hasn’t had any success in finding out what the man’s plan is with regards to SJ031, and he isn’t even completely sure about what they are going to do when they meet CL067. Rook seems to be convinced that the Type 2 can be persuaded to help them, but Paul can’t help but be sceptical. 

A knock on the passenger window interrupts his thoughts, and he looks up to see Dominic Rook giving him a stern look through the window. He unlocks the door and watches the man climb into the passenger seat.

“Good morning, Inspector” Rook greets him, but from the look on his face, it seems like his own morning so far has been anything but good.

“Morning, Mr Rook,” he replies, trying to put as much friendliness into the three words as he can muster. It’s going to be a long drive. They might as well _try_ to get along.

“So, you are sure they are in Cambridge?” Rook asks, and he nods.

“Positive. Our Cambridgeshire colleagues have reported several Type 2 attacks over the last three months, the last one being only two days ago. I would say it’s definitely our best bet.”

Rook nods. “You’re right.”

Paul starts the car and pulls out of the parking bay. “Glad to be on the same page, Mr Rook.”

They drive in silence for a long time, with Rook looking out the window and not paying him very much attention, apparently lost in thought. Paul concentrates on the road and tries not to guess what the man might be thinking about. Dominic Rook’s mind is not a place he wants to spend any more time than strictly necessary.

“I heard that there has been a twentieth victim,” Rook speaks up after about half an hour.

Paul gives him a quick, sideways look, seeing that the man looking back at him expectantly. He nods. “Yes, there has been,” he confirms and, after a moment, adds, “I’m surprised you heard about it.”

Rook lets out a short, mirthless laugh. “Yes, well, I’ve got my sources.”

Paul frowns. “Clearly.” 

For all he knows Rook could have been given the information by SJ031 himself. He never confirmed that they are not in any kind of contact anymore. But somehow, he thinks this is unlikely, especially given the circumstances of this particular girl’s death.

“Is there anything you can tell me about the girl? Jen?” Rook asks, trying to sound nonchalant, but Paul can easily hear the bitterness in his voice. He was right, then.

“Not nearly as much as I would like,” Paul says noncommittally, but Rook, predictably, doesn’t give up that easily.

“You must have some information about her.”

Paul sighs. “Her name was Jenna Howard, she was twenty-one. Street prostitute. Lived in a house share with three—”

“What?” Rook blurts out, and Paul gives him a quick look to see him staring at him with wide eyes.

“What what?” he asks, honestly slightly puzzled by the response.

“What did you just say about her?” 

Paul frowns and repeats the info, telegram style. “Jenna Howard. Twenty-one. Street prostitute—”

“Are you sure?” Rook asks then, and Paul nods.

“Positive. Her house mates confirmed it, as did her friend.”

Rook’s voice is very quiet when he asks, “That friend… what is her name?”

“Natasha something,” Paul says. “A colleague of hers, from what I understand.” 

Rook lets out a small, strangled sound and turns away to stare out of the windscreen onto the road in front of them. “Right.”

Paul looks at him for a long moment with a furrowed brow, but as Rook is not saying anything else, he decides to let it go. They continue their drive in silence for another hour or so before either of them speaks again. This time, it is Paul who breaks the silence.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Mr Rook. From what I understand, both CL067 and his ‘girlfriend’ are highly unpredictable and dangerous.”

Rook nods. “Of course they are. They are Type 2s. But the way I see it, it’s our only shot at finding the details of that ritual, and if it’s CL067 or the Devil, I know who I’d rather face.”

Paul has to admit that he can’t fault his logic. “I have to say, I agree.” There is a long silence following his words, and Paul’s thoughts invariably wander back to earlier this morning, remembering Ali’s face when he told her where he was about to go. Remembering Ruby asking him why mum was so worried, and Leah explaining to her that dad was going to catch some very bad men. 

_If only that was true,_ Paul thinks bitterly. _Instead of catching them, or better even, ending their miserable existence once and for all, I will be asking them for help…_

“I have two young daughters, Mr Rook. I’m doing this to protect them.” He gives Rook an inquisitive sideways glance. “Do you have any family?”

Rook doesn’t say anything at first, a dark look passing over his face. “No,” he says eventually, shaking his head.

Paul can feel that there is more to that statement, but he doesn’t feel that he has the right to pry. Rook seems to be a very private man, and he respects that. As far as Rook is concerned, he probably already knows way more than he is comfortable with.

They continue the drive in silence once more. The traffic isn’t too bad overall, and before too long they arrive in Cambridge. His contact at Cambridgeshire Constabulary gave him the address of the hotel where the two Type 2s are supposedly staying, and Paul pulls into the hotel car park with a sigh. 

Rook looks over at him with raised eyebrows. “Everything all right, Inspector?”

Paul nods. “Yes. I just hope that CL067 really is going to be as cooperative as you think.”

Rook gives him a grim smile. “I don’t _think_ anything, Inspector. But I do have a way of talking to these… people.”

Paul doesn’t miss the minute hesitation before Rook says the word ‘people’, and for some reason, it gives him the shivers. SJ031 really has done a number on this man.

“Right then,” Paul says and opens the driver door. “Let’s do this.”

They get out of the car and are walking up to the hotel, when suddenly Paul hears Rook muttering something behind him. It sounds something like, “Glad you could make it.”

Turning on his heels, he gives Rook a quizzical look. “Who are you talking to, Mr Rook?”

Rook, to his surprise, lets out a heartfelt laugh. “I’m sorry, Inspector. I should have warned you that I was going to bring my friend Alex along.”

Paul looks around him with a frown. Apart from the two of them, the footpath is completely deserted. “What are you talking about?”

Rook smiles brightly, as if he is enjoying a private joke. Paul can feel himself getting more annoyed with every passing second, until Rook says, “Alex is a Type 1, Inspector. You won’t be able to see her.”

Paul’s eyes widen. “You brought a _Type 1_?” he splutters.

Rook nods, looking completely unperturbed. “I hope you don’t mind.”

Paul shakes his head in exasperation. This man is just too much for him sometimes. Then another thought enters his mind. “How can you talk to a Type 1?”

“I’m a psychic,” Rook explains without hesitation, a steely expression on his face. 

Paul mulls this new piece of information over in his mind for a moment. To be completely honest, he can’t say he’s entirely surprised. “Well, I hope you know what you’re doing, Mr Rook.”

“I do.”

The two of them – three of them, he reminds himself – make their way along the footpath up to the hotel entrance, where Paul uses his police badge to find out which room the two Type 2s inhabit. A minute later they find themselves in front of the plain wooden door with a number twelve on it in brass letters, and Paul is about to knock, when Rook still his hand with his own.

“Just so we’re clear, Inspector – I will be doing the talking here. I would strongly advise you to stay in the background as much as possible and leave it to myself and Alex to negotiate.”

Paul narrows his eyes. “ _Alex_ was never even part of our agreement, Mr Rook. I would be very careful if I were you.”

Rook meets his glare with one of his own that is no less intimidating. “Are you honestly trying to threaten me here, Inspector? Because I don’t fancy your chances doing this without us.”

Paul takes a deep breath and, clenching his teeth, takes a step back from the door. “Over to you then, Mr Rook,” he bites out.

He watches as Rook moves forward and knocks on the door. There is no response for a long moment, and Paul starts to think that the couple might not be in, when there is a male voice on the other side of the door.

“Who’s there and what do you want?” the voice asks.

“My name is Dominic Rook,” Rook says. “I believe we have met before, Regus.”

“Rook?” the Type 2 – _Regus_ – says, and there is no small amount of suspicion in his voice. “You’re that Domestic Defence fella, aren’t you? What do you want from me?”

“I’d just like to talk, Regus,” Rook says, and Paul has to admire the man’s unshakable calmness.

Paul can hear the unmistakable sound of the door lock releasing, and a moment later the door opens to reveal a slightly dishevelled-looking, middle-aged man with greying hair. Paul’s eyes widen taking in the Type 2, and he remembers Rook’s warning about his ‘harmless’ appearance. 

Regus’ eyes wander between Rook, himself, and what must be the Type 1.

“You didn’t say there were three of you,” he points out, narrowing his eyes, just as a blonde woman appears in the doorway behind him, looking over her shoulder. 

“Who are these people, Regus honey?” she asks. 

Regus turns around to her and gives her a disarming smile. “They are from the Department of Domestic Defence. It’s like a kind of… vampire police.”

“Actually—” Paul starts, but cuts off as Rook sends him a dangerous glare.

“Police?” the female asks with alarm.

“Don’t worry, Mic, they’re not here to hurt us,” Regus says, then turns around to face them. “Isn’t that right?”

“Of course,” Rook says without missing a beat. “As I said, we just want to talk. We are after some information that we think only you might be able to provide us with, Regus.”

Regus gives them a long, calculating look. “What’s she doing with you?” he asks then, indicating what must be the Type 1.

“She’s a friend of mine,” Rook explains. “I asked her to come along.”

Regus looks at the Type 1 with unconcealed interest. A bright smile breaks out on his face and he says, “Thanks, nice to meet you too.”

The Type 2 takes a step back and opens the door wider, beckoning for them to step through.

“Please, come in.”

Paul follows Rook into the spacious hotel room, feeling the two Type 2s’ eyes on him the whole time. Regus leads them through to a small sitting area, where he and Rook take seats across from the Regus, while the female Type 2 sits down on the edge of the bed a little way back from where they are, stealing narrow-eyed glances in their direction.

“So, Mr Rook, what can I do for you?” Regus asks jovially, eyes darting between the three of them and coming to linger on where Paul expects the Type 1 to be.

“I know from our previous encounters that you have an extensive knowledge of vampire lore and legends,” Rook says. “I was hoping you could help us with a dilemma.”

“What kind of dilemma?” Regus asks, eyes still fixed on the Type 1. From across the room, the female Type 2 is glaring daggers in his direction. Paul, despite his better judgement, has to admit he is starting to feel sorry for the girl.

Rook takes a deep breath. “I was wondering,” he starts, and Regus finally tears his eyes away from the Type 1 to look at Rook, who meets his eyes with a grave look of his own. “I was wondering if there is anything you can tell us about the Devil.”


	5. Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> So, this chapter has Regus being pervy, Hal being badass, and Dominic showing Casselli how it's done (and me having one hell of a time writing it all down...)
> 
> I hope you enjoy the result :)

Hold these secrets deep inside  
So they cannot be heard

And don't you worry about the thing  
And I swear you won't be hurt

\- The Boxer Rebellion, “Murder Ballad”

“I was wondering if there is anything you can tell us about the Devil.”

Dominic fixes serious eyes on the vampire sitting across from him and watches in grim amusement as Regus’ own eyes grow wide.

“The Devil?” he asks in a high-pitched squeak.

Dominic just continues to look at him with that stony gaze and gives the tiniest of nods. “The Devil.”

“Well, fuck my life,” Regus blurts out. “Have you found him? Is he here?”

“We believe so,” Dominic says, eyes darting between Regus and Casselli. He can faintly hear Alex in the background, trying and failing to suppress a giggle, while Casselli is looking suitably scandalised by the vampire’s sudden outburst.

“Well, you’re out of luck, I’m afraid,” Regus continues after a moment, still more than a little flustered. “The Devil is not exactly one of my areas of special interest.” 

Dominic takes a deep breath. “Is there anything at all you can tell us?” he asks again. When Regus just looks at him with a bit of a blank expression on his face, he continues, “Specifically, we are looking for the details of a ritual to destroy him.”

“Hmm.” Regus brings a hand up to stroke his chin, obviously thinking about this. “A ritual, you say?” Dominic nods. “There is one ritual that I have heard of,” Regus says. “As far as I’m aware it was only performed twice, and it has never been successful, obviously, since the Devil is still around. Are you sure he’s here? Where is he?” The last two questions are asked in that high-pitched squeal again, and this time Alex is definitely laughing.

Regus’ head whips around to where the ghost is sitting, and Dominic hears her say, “Take my word for it, Regus. He is _definitely_ here. Well, not _here_ , but in Wales. In Barry.”

Regus frowns. “Barry again? Since when does everything ever that has any significance for supernaturals happen in fucking _Barry_?”

“I don’t know, does it?” Alex answers.

Dominic nods. “It does seem to have developed into a bit of a hotspot,” he confirms.

“If we’re speaking of Barry, though, there is a vampire there that might be able to help you. Well, at least he was there about a year ago.”

Dominic has a sinking feeling at the bottom of his stomach. He opens his mouth to speak, but finds that Casselli, who has so far kept very quiet in the conversation, has beaten him to it. “If you are speaking of Hal Yorke, I’m afraid he is not going to be of much use to us,” he says, with a significant look towards Dominic. Dominic gives him a grateful nod.

“Why is that?” Regus asks, eyes flicking between himself, Casselli and Alex. 

“He’s gone evil,” says Alex.

“Aww, no,” Regus exclaims. 

Dominic has to put special effort into not flinching at the sudden sharp pain in his chest. He swallows and gives a jerky nod. “Alex is right. He won’t be cooperating with us. And anyway, he told us previously that he doesn’t remember the details of the ritual.”

Regus frowns. “I very much doubt that. I remember him going ‘round boasting to everyone who would listen about how he alone survived an encounter with the Devil himself. He was quite insufferable, to be honest.”

“I can believe that in a heartbeat,” Alex mutters.

“When was this?” Dominic asks with a furrowed brow. Could it be that Hal lied to them?

“Oh, that must have been back in the forties,” Regus says, a faraway look on his face. “Lord Harry was big news back then, and boy did he let people know that as well.”

Dominic swallows and gives the vampire an intense look. “Think back, Regus. Did he mention any useful details of the ritual?”

Regus is silent for a long moment, still with that nostalgic look on his face. “He said that it involved some kind of trinity, I believe,” he says eventually, and then his expression changes, as if he has a sudden epiphany. “Yes! That’s it. A trinity. Consisting of one vampire, one werewolf and one ghost.” A bright smile blooms on his face as he looks between the three of them.

Dominic gives him an encouraging nod and a smile. “A vampire, a werewolf and a ghost. Anything else?”

Regus scrunches his face up in concentration. “I think it was a sort of blood ritual…” he muses, almost to himself. Then, all of a sudden, he jumps up and all but runs over to one corner of the room, where there is a heavy suitcase lying on the floor. Opening the suitcase, he rummages around what looks like a collection of scrolls for a few minutes.

“Did you remember something else?” Casselli asks.

Regus doesn’t stop what he is doing, but does give them a small nod. “I remember thinking when Lord Harry told me about the ritual, that it reminds me of a similar one that is used for more run-of-the-mill kind of demons.”

Dominic hears Alex snort. “Run-of-the-mill kind of demons?” she echoes, and Dominic chuckles.

“You know what I mean,” Regus says distractedly, still rooting around in the suitcase.

“I’ve actually never come across any demons,” Dominic says quietly.

“So what are you, then?” Michaela suddenly pipes up from where she is sitting on the bed. Dominic turns around to see her watching him intently. “I thought you’re just a human. You do _smell_ human.” A strange, tingling feeling is creeping up Dominic’s neck at her words, and he does his best to ignore it. “But you can hear her,” she adds, pointing at Alex with obvious distaste.

Dominic takes a deep breath. “I’m a psychic,” he explains, for the second time that day. 

“Oh, wow,” Michaela exclaims. “I didn’t know psychic humans really existed. Did you hear that, Regus?” 

Regus gives a small nod. “Yes, Mic. I’ve come across psychics before, but they are very rare.” Turning his head to give Dominic a scrutinising look, he adds, “I wasn’t aware that you were one, Mr Rook.”

“Neither was I, until fairly recently,” Dominic lies. No need to go into detail.

“Ha, found it!” Regus bursts out the next moment, holding up what looks like an ancient parchment scroll and waving it in the air in front of them. He walks back over to them with a triumphant grin on his face and places the scroll on the table.

Dominic’s eyes widen involuntarily, darting between the scroll and Regus’ face as the vampire opens the scroll, and he sees as the vampire’s face suddenly changes from elation to suspicious mistrust. 

“Remind me again why I should share this with you?” he asks.

“We are trying to destroy the Devil. I believe that we can all benefit from a positive outcome in this case.”

Regus looks at him with narrowed eyes. “While I do agree that we would all benefit from the Devil being destroyed, I don’t fancy a power such as this in the hands of humans.” Dominic opens his mouth to reply, but is cut short by Regus speaking again, “I expect some kind of compensation for my efforts, at least.”

Dominic lets out a breath of relief. So this is what all this is about, then. He has prepared for this. Focussing serious eyes on the vampire, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small flask. He swallows down the lump that forms in his throat as he puts the flask on the table in front of him. The scene is way too familiar to be comfortable. He can feel Casselli’s and Alex’s eyes on him, whereas the vampire’s gaze has zoomed right in to the small flask of blood on the table.

“There is more where that came from, if required,” Dominic says curtly. 

“Ah, now, this was not what we agreed, Mr Rook,” Casselli says, staring at the blood with distaste in his grey eyes.

Dominic gives him an icy look. “I told you to let me handle this for a reason, Casselli,” he mutters.

Regus, luckily, seems to have been fairly unaware of their exchange, as his eyes are still fixed on the flask. It takes him some effort to tear his eyes away from it, and when they meet Dominic’s, he can see a very familiar look in them.

“Now that does change things,” Regus says. “When you say ‘more’…” he trails off, looking firmly at Dominic.

“Plenty more,” Dominic confirms. “This information is important to us.”

Regus grins. “Without a doubt.”

Even though he can’t see her, Dominic can feel Alex’s accusing gaze on him, and he makes a point to not look in her direction. This is none of her business.

Dominic watches as Regus wordlessly opens the scroll. Stealing a quick glance at it, he realises with widening eyes that it is not written in any language or even _symbols_ he has ever seen before. 

“Can you decipher that?” Dominic asks, slightly breathlessly, taking in what almost looks like hieroglyphs on the stiff parchment.

Regus raises an indignant eyebrow at him. “Of course I can.”

Dominic looks up and sees that Michaela has come up behind Regus, hands lightly massaging his shoulders. “Regus can read anything. He’s so smart, it’s amazing,” she says with a giggle. Dominic does his best to suppress an eye roll.

“Well, what does it say?” Casselli butts in impatiently. His voice clearly signals how uncomfortable he is in this room full of supernaturals. 

“Give me a moment,” Regus says, eyes darting over the parchment. They sit in silence for a few long minutes while Regus studies the strange symbols. Then, without any warning, he exclaims, “Yes!”, causing Dominic to flinch involuntarily.

“What does it say?” he asks, eyes wide.

“I was right,” Regus says with a generous helping of smugness in his voice. “It _is_ a blood ritual.” He looks up at Dominic, then at Casselli, and back at Dominic. Pointing to the parchment, he continues, “This one only needs one blood sample, from either a werewolf _or_ a vampire. And the ghost,” here his eyes dart to Alex, and his face lights up, “has to drink it.”

“How is that possible?” Alex asks immediately. “I can’t drink anything, I’m immaterial.”

“Weeell,” Regus drawls, “that’s the magical part, innit? You drink it, and thereby defy the Devil’s power over you. Or something like that.” He gives her a wide grin. Michaela withdraws her hands from his shoulders, sitting back down on the bed.

“So what’s the difference between this one and the one Hal told you about?” Dominic asks, trying to get the conversation back on track.

Regus shakes himself and tears his eyes away from Alex. “As I said, that one requires a trinity.” He smiles at Dominic, but at his blank expression, adds, “A werewolf, a vampire _and_ a ghost. All three of them. The blood of the werewolf and vampire are mixed together,” a look of utter disgust passes over Regus’ face for a split-second, “and the ghost then has to drink it.”

Dominic nods grimly. “Sounds simple enough.”

“Yeah…” Regus gives him a pensive smile. “Except, there is one other difference. This ritual,” he points at the parchment again, “has been performed many times, and successfully. But there is a reason the other one has never yet succeeded. It’s not that it couldn’t be done, you see. It’s more that the participants weren’t willing to go through with it.” He pauses and looks at each of them in turn to make sure he has their full attention. “Because every participant of the ritual invariably dies as a result.”

A heavy silence falls over the hotel room. One thought immediately strikes Dominic, _But somehow Hal survived._ Then another follows, _That’s why he told us he didn’t remember. He didn’t want to put his friends at risk._ And the final thought, which ends up making it across his lips and into the silence of the room, is, “So in order to destroy the Devil, we would have to sacrifice three people.”

Another silence follows his statement, as no one really seems to know how to respond to this news. Taking a look at Casselli, he can see the sneer on his face, can hear the almost inaudible huff and the quietly muttered, “People.” Somehow, it makes him irrationally angry.

“Yes, Mr Casselli, _people_. And I doubt we can just find volunteers that are willing give their lives in order to rid the world of some frail old man in a wheelchair,” he says icily.

“But,” Alex speaks up, and Dominic whips around in her direction, “how can I die? I’m already dead.”

Dominic nods, “Good point, Alex.”

“What did she say?” Casselli demands. 

“She says how can she die, because she is already dead,” Dominic relays, then raises his eyebrows at Regus in a silent question. The vampire looks back at him for a moment, clearly unsure what to say.

“I’m only telling you what I’ve been told myself. And hey, cut me some slack, it was about seventy years ago. I suppose,” he says, stealing another glance at Alex, “that you would just… fade away, the way ghosts do when they lose their ties to this world.”

“Urgh, sounds lovely,” Alex says, and Dominic can’t help but silently agree.

“Right, so, unless there is anything else you can tell us, Regus, I think we shouldn’t inconvenience you any longer,” Casselli says tensely.

“Yes, I agree, Regus honey,” Michaela pipes up, walking back over to the table and giving Alex a venomous look. “I can feel myself getting hungry, and we don’t want to endanger these lovely gentlemen, do we?” 

Dominic can clearly hear the thinly veiled threat in her words, and he swallows and gets to his feet. “Thank you very much for your time and the invaluable information, Regus,” he says with a slightly forced smile. “You have been a tremendous help.”

Regus also gets up and gives him a bright smile. “Happy to help, Mr Rook,” he says, picking the small flask up off the table and holding it in a firm grasp. “Just out of interest, what blood type is this?”

“O negative,” Dominic says at once, and he swears he can feel Alex’s eyes on him again. He shoots her a warning look.

A big grin breaks out on Regus’ face. “Oh, it’s been years since I’ve had that. Where did you find it?”

Dominic smiles. “Now that would be telling.”

“If you’re quite finished, Mr Rook,” Casselli speaks up loudly, and Dominic notices that the man is already halfway to the door, eyes fixed on the female vampire who has also stood and is now eyeing the flask in Regus’ hand with interest.

“Excuse me, Regus. It looks like my… partner is desperate to get going.”

With another exchange of pleasantries, the door falls shut behind them.

***

The drive back to London is mostly uneventful. Dominic says goodbye to Alex in the car park, and the ghost tells him she will meet him at his flat later to talk through what they have learned. Which leaves only him and Casselli in the car on the drive home, and the man doesn’t seem to be in any mood to chat.

Dominic takes a sidelong glance at Casselli’s stony face as the man stares out at the traffic in front of them.

“I told you to leave the negotiations to me, Inspector. I know what I’m doing with Type 2s.”

“Is that how you won over SJ031 as well?” Casselli shoots back, not looking at him. “By offering him some of your blood in a flask?”

Dominic swallows and feels his cheeks growing hot. Casselli has no idea how close he is to the truth. “That’s none of your business,” he says, voice slightly strangled.

Casselli snorts. “That’s a yes, then.”

Dominic doesn’t respond, and they spend the rest of the drive in a tense silence.

By the time Casselli pulls up outside of Dominic’s house, he can feel the slight itching on his wrist that signals to him that it’s been way too long since… well, it tells him that he could really do with some time to himself before Alex arrives at the flat. If he isn’t completely mistaken, Natasha’s shift at the supermarket doesn’t finish until—

His chest tightens uncomfortably as he remembers the little snippet of information Casselli gave him earlier today.

_“Natasha something. A colleague of hers, from what I understand.”_

As much as he tries, and he tried plenty on the long drive to Cambridge, before his mind became preoccupied with other, more urgent matters, Dominic can’t believe that Natasha would actually… do that kind of thing.

Then, a little voice at the back of his mind speaks up—

_You would have said the same thing about Hal._

—and he feels sick. 

_Yes, but Hal didn't have a choice,_ he argues. 

_Perhaps she doesn't, either?_

Suddenly he remembers something else she said, when she first came to see him.

_“Had a surprisingly deep and meaningful conversation with him, for a homicidal nutcase.”_

Dominic felt at the time that she was avoiding telling him the content of their conversation, beyond simply making a point to him. Could it be? Could this be what they talked about?

Dominic forcefully shakes his head, trying to clear it.

“Everything okay, Mr Rook?” Casselli’s voice drifts into his thoughts, and he realises that he is still sitting in the man’s car. How long has Casselli been sitting there and looking at him?

He feels a blush creeping into his cheeks. “Yes, thanks. Everything’s fine. I just… have a lot on my mind, I’m sure you understand.”

Casselli gives him a grim nod. “Only too well.”

Dominic forces a small smile and opens the passenger door. “I should get going. Thank you for the lift, Inspector.”

“No worries,” Casselli answers. “And Rook—” Dominic turns around to see Casselli looking at him with raised eyebrows and a troubled expression in his grey eyes. “—keep me in the loop,” he finishes.

“Of course, Inspector,” Dominic says, and shuts the car door behind him. 

With a breath of relief, he enters his flat and finds no trace as yet of his friend’s ghostly presence. He sticks his head into the living room, kitchen and study, but Natasha is also nowhere to be seen. With a small frown, he notices that his laptop is sitting open on the desk in his study. Natasha must have used it, he thinks distractedly as he makes his way to the bathroom.

He pulls the by now so familiar blade out from the back of the drawer where he stores spare razor blades, in the hope that it will be the last place Natasha will show any kind of interest in. Holding the heavy blade in his hand, he frowns. It feels different… strange, and somehow wrong, to be doing this right in the middle of his day, and sober. Usually, it is something he reserves for late nights in the dizzy, intoxicated haze of several double shots of whiskey. 

He swallows compulsively as he opens his cuff and rolls up his sleeve, exposing the two small marks. He has taken great care to keep them exactly in the same places as they used to be. The ones on his neck have all but faded now, which is probably for the best, seeing as they were so much more visible. 

Dominic’s eyes fall on the two marks, one dark-red and scabbed, one bluish-purple. They don’t heal as quickly as they used to. Biting down hard on his bottom lip, Dominic drives the tip of the blade into the bluish-purple spot and watches the blood well up where the cold metal pierces his skin. Then he closes his eyes and focusses on the rush of endorphins into his blood stream, and he sighs.

It’s not the same, it never will be. But it has to be enough, because it is all he will ever get from now on.

“Dominic?” he suddenly hears outside the door, and he jumps, dropping the knife into the sink with a loud _clang_. He winces. “You all right?” Alex asks, concern in her voice.

“I’m fine,” he calls out, starting the tap and running the bleeding cut under cold water for a moment.

“Did you drop something?” Alex asks, and he rolls his eyes with a sigh.

“Yes,” he bites out. “Don’t worry, it’s all okay. I’ll be out in a minute.”

Drying off his wrist with a paper tissue, Dominic pulls a dressing from one of the other drawers and quickly puts it on before lowering his sleeve. Then he fishes the knife out of the sink and puts it back in its place in the drawer behind the razors. Giving the room and his arm one more careful look, he decides that it’s good enough, and opens the door.

“Hey there,” Alex greets him. He can sense her standing by the door to the hallway.

“Hey,” he replies. “Let’s go through to the living room, shall we?”

He leads the way and feels her following behind him. Taking a seat on the sofa, he looks up in her direction.

“Thank you for coming along, Alex,” he says.

“Yeah,” Alex says with a small snort. “Wow, was that guy ever creepy.”

Dominic lets out a quiet chuckle, “Mmmh, that's why I brought you. It worked a treat.”

“Excuse me?” she says indignantly. “You brought me along so some pervy old vampire could _leer_ at me?”

“Amongst other things,” he says and gives her a wide-eyed, innocent look.

He can almost picture her eyebrows lifting towards her hairline. “Wow, Blondie. Seriously, I knew you were ruthless, but this is just plain cruel.”

“It was nothing personal, Alex. I had to do everything I could to get him to cooperate with us.”

“Yeah. Like giving him a flask of your blood.”

He heaves a deep sigh. “It’s not like I had anyone else’s blood available to me.”

“Then don’t give him any!” she retorts. “I mean, shit, Dominic, you’ve only just recovered from basically bleeding to death.”

“It was a negotiating tactic, Alex. Do you honestly think he would have given us that information if I hadn’t made that offer?”

She sighs. “As much as I hate to admit it, I suppose you’re right.” He can’t help but look the tiniest bit smug at her admission, before she adds, “Not that the information is really all that helpful.”

“No,” Dominic agrees. “Looks like we’ve reached a dead end.” He looks up at her, eyes wide and a slight blush creeping into his cheeks. “No pun intended, of course.”

She lets out a small laugh. “God, you’re cute sometimes.”

He snorts. “You know, that’s the second time you’ve called me that.”

“Must be true, then.”

Neither of them speaks for a long moment after this, but the silence is not uncomfortable. Dominic finds that he has really come to appreciate the ghost’s presence in his otherwise so empty life.

“I’ve never said thank you,” he says eventually, looking up in her direction.

“For what?” she asks.

“For being here for me when… for saving my life.”

She is quiet for a long time before replying. “You’re welcome, I suppose.” After another pause, she adds, “Dominic, when we talked, while you were a ghost, you mentioned that you were going to—”

He quickly shakes his head. “No, Alex.”

“But—”

“We’re not talking about that,” he says firmly, and he can hear her sigh, but she doesn’t say anything else. “Now, let’s think what we can do about this ritual.”

“I don’t think there’s much we can do about it,” Alex says gloomily. “Unless we actually want to find a vampire, werewolf and ghost that are happy to sacrifice themselves for this. Which, just for the record, I am not.”

He shakes his head with a frown. “No, of course not. Has Hatch made any further moves? Any suspicious behaviour at all?”

“No,” she says immediately. “Actually, he’s very much kept himself under the radar.”

He looks up at her with grim determination. “Well, then, let’s make sure he stays there, and nobody needs to be sacrificed.”

***

Natasha sits at the bar, idly stirring her drink while waiting for her client to arrive. She arranged to meet him online before she left. With the police already on her tail, there’s no need to take unnecessary risks, and when she spotted Dominic’s laptop just sitting on his desk, it was too good an opportunity to—

Her eyes widen for a moment in terror as she desperately tries to remember if she wiped the internet history on Dominic’s laptop. The thought of him finding her activities in his browser makes a cold shiver run down her spine, and she can feel goose bumps rising up on her skin. 

But no, she is pretty sure she has wiped it.

Saying that, her brain feels like a fucking giant wad of cotton wool at the moment, so there’s no guarantee she’s actually done anything. She used up the last of her coke last night, and if this guy decides not to show up tonight she’ll be seriously in the shit. But then again, if Mark’s threats when he threw her out really had any truth behind them at all, she isn’t sure she’ll be able to get any more from him anyway.

A large, strong hand landing at the small of her back almost makes her jump out of her skin. She whirls around to come face to face with none other than Mark himself, a stormy expression on his face as he scowls at her. 

“What ya doin’ here, Tasha?” 

Steeling herself against her natural instinct to pull back from the hand on her back, Natasha gives him a large, fake smile. “Hey Mark,” she says. “Good to see you.”

“Is it?” His voice is deep and dangerous. “Where you been then? You just ran off, didn’t know where the fuck you’d gone.”

“I thought you wanted me to go,” she says with wide eyes, trying to cover up her rapidly beating heart. The hand on her back doesn’t move as Mark leans in close to her face. She can taste the alcohol on his breath. 

“We was havin’ a row, sweetheart,” he says, his other hand coming up to cup her face. “Didn’t mean for ya to just stay away forever.” He leans in the rest of the way and presses his lips against hers in a bruising kiss.

“Sorry, Mark,” she says when he finally pulls away. “I didn’t think you’d want me to come back.”

“What the fuck, Tasha?” he bursts out, and she can’t help the slight flinch at his raised voice. “What did ya think I was gonna do, just replace you on the spot? You know we need your money to pay the fucking rent.” His eyes are cold as steel as he looks at her now, and her heart speeds up uncontrollably.

“I’m sorry, Mark,” she says again, quietly, giving him an imploring look.

He snorts. “Yeah, all right. So what are ya doin’ here?”

“Meeting a client,” she explains, eyes darting nervously around the packed bar. She gasps as Mark’s hand tightly grips her arm.

“You what?”

“I’m meeting a client?” she repeats, not sure what he is so upset about now. The man seriously has anger management issues.

“Were ya even gonna tell me?” Mark barks at her now, gripping her arm even tighter, and she winces.

“You’re hurting me,” she says, but he doesn’t move his hand, doesn’t even acknowledge her. “Of course I was going to tell you,” she says quickly.

He is right in her face again, but this time it’s unlikely he’s going to kiss her again. “You filthy lying bitch!” he shouts in her face. She uselessly struggles against him for a moment, eyes once again flicking around the crowded bar. There’s people everywhere, but no one seems to be looking in her direction. Except…

It all happens way too quickly for her to fully take it in. One moment, Mark has her in a death grip, the next, his back slams into the bar and Hal, who is almost a head shorter, stands tall and threatening in front of him, hands firmly grasping his lapels.

“Is there a problem here?” Hal asks, and his voice is icy.

“Who the fuck are you?” Mark replies, trying to fight back but finding that he can’t move.

“I’m a… friend of Natasha’s,” Hal says. “And I would appreciate it if you could keep your hands off of her.”

Mark huffs. “A friend, huh? You that client she was goin’ to meet?”

Hal frowns. “No. That’s not me. And it’s really none of your fucking business who I am. Just leave her alone.”

Mark brings his hands up to loosen Hal’s steel grip on him, but the vampire’s hands are unmoving. Hal, obviously starting to get pissed off, gives Mark a hard shove into the bar.

“Oi, watch it!” the bartender calls, coming over to the site of the commotion. “You all right?” he asks Natasha, who nods distractedly, unable to take her eyes off the two men in front of her. “Guys, break it up or take it outside,” the bartender adds, and Hal looks up at him, then at Natasha. His eyes are wild and dangerous, so unlike what she was used to seeing in them back when they lived together in the B&B.

“Hal?” she asks cautiously.

“I think we should, you know?” he says conversationally, and moves back from Mark, who takes in an involuntary deep breath. “Yes, let’s take this outside.”

“Hal…” Natasha says again, a warning this time. He turns around to face her, and the look in his eyes makes her blood run cold.

“Yes, Natasha?”

“Don’t do it,” she says, narrowing her eyes at him.

Behind Hal, she can see Mark shake his head. “What’s your problem, Tasha? Ya don’t think I can take on this clown? Do you really think I’m that much of a wimp?” Hal turns back around to him at the words, and Mark gives him a stormy look. “You’re right, let’s take this the fuck outside.”

“Please guys, don’t,” Natasha says, looking at them with big, pleading eyes. “Let’s just… forget the whole thing, okay?”

Hal lets out a dark chuckle. “I don’t think so.”

He throws Mark a look and turns on his heels, making his way through the throng of people towards the exit. Natasha watches as Mark follows him outside. Swallowing down the lump in her throat, she gathers up her handbag and has a quick look inside to reassure herself that she has her stake with her. There it is, Tom’s old stake, the one she took from the chest under the bed before she left that night. She takes a deep breath and follows the two men outside.

The cool night air hits her as she leaves the bar. There is a light drizzle in the air, making her shiver. Eyes quickly darting left and right, she looks for any sign of where the two of them may have gone, but there is no sign of them anywhere. Biting her lip and pulling her coat tightly around herself, she starts walking in one direction, looking left and right, until she comes to a small alley in between two tall buildings. There, in the flickering light of a broken streetlight, she can just about make out Mark’s hulking form against a brick wall, and Hal’s smaller frame standing in front of him with one hand on his windpipe.

“Hal, no!” she shouts, starting to run down the alley. 

“Stay back, Natasha. You don’t want to see this,” Hal says, voice all calm and collected, like he is not just holding a sixteen stone man against a wall with one hand.

“See, that’s where you’re wrong,” she says and pulls the stake from her bag.

His eyes dart down to her hand, and lets out a loud whoop. “So that’s your plan, is it?”

She nods, coming to a stop some distance away from them. She can see Mark’s confused eyes look between her and his attacker. 

“What kind of fuckin’ psycho is this guy, Tasha?” he says in a strangled whisper.

“Shh,” Hal says, still sounding like he doesn’t have a care in the world. “Don’t interrupt while the grown-ups are talking.” Turning back towards Natasha, he continues, “So, how do you want to play it? Let me kill him first to give you a reason to stake me?”

“What the fuck?” Mark utters, but Hal gives him an almighty shove with his hand to shut him up.

“I don’t need any more reasons to kill you,” Natasha says, sounding a lot more self-assured than she feels. “Why don’t you let him go, and we do this between the two of us.”

Hal barks out a laugh. “No. Sorry. Not going to happen,” he says, and before she has a chance to respond, he moves in and tears into Mark’s throat. She can hear a strangled cry coming out of the man’s mouth, and a moment later, there is silence.

Try as hard as she might, she can’t get her body to take even a single step towards the vampire. Flaring her nostrils, she finds she can’t do anything but stand there and watch with wide, unbelieving eyes as Hal sucks on Mark’s neck, and she feels a wave of nausea overcome her. 

After what feels like forever, Hal steps back and Mark’s lifeless form crumples to the floor in front of him. Hal turns towards her then, his mouth and chin blood-smeared, his eyes wild. She swallows nervously as he takes a step towards her, then another. She stands up tall and tightly grips the stake in her hand.

“Are you really going to use that on me, Natasha?” Hal asks, in that infuriatingly calm voice again. He reaches into a pocket and pulls out a handkerchief, then carefully wipes the blood from his face.

Her hand shakes around the stake, but she makes sure she holds on to it. “I promised I would, didn’t I?” she says, and finds that her voice shakes as much as her hand does.

He lets out a small laugh. “Yes, but that doesn’t mean very much at the end of the day, does it?”

She takes a deep breath. “You’re right. It doesn’t.” Her eyes flick over to Mark’s body on the cold, wet ground. The reality of the situation is slowly dawning on her. “You killed him,” she whispers.

Hal nods. “He won’t be bothering you again.”

She looks back and forth between Hal and Mark’s body a few times, a frown growing on her face. “Did you do the same with yours?”

Hal’s brow furrows. “My what?” 

“Your pimp.”

His face goes hard, then, and his voice is cold and emotionless when he replies, “Yes. I did.”

“That must’ve felt good.”

He gives a jerky nod. “It was… liberating.”

She bites her lip. “I bet.” Her hold on the stake loosens, and she turns to look down the alley, back to the busier main road. “I should go.”

“Do you have somewhere to stay?” Hal pipes up, and she whips back around to face him, a frown on her face.

“Why? ‘Cause you'd offer me to stay with you?” She huffs as he nods. “Come on, Hal. You know I'd never do that.”

He rolls his eyes and sighs. “Well, do you?”

“Yes, actually,” she says, looking him straight in the eyes. “You see, I know this guy. He’s got a dead posh flat in Bayswater. I've been crashing on his couch for the last few days.”

Hal is silent for a long moment, and she can see his Adam’s apple rising and falling rapidly a few times. “I see,” he says finally, averting his eyes.

Natasha frowns. She saw with her own eyes only moments before what this monster in front of her is capable of. And yet, one mention of Dominic, and he is reduced to a broken, self-conscious mess. How is this possible?

“Hal?” she asks, and his eyes flick back towards her, a haunted look in them.

“Tell Dominic…” he starts, then pauses. His voice sounds different, she notices. More like the Hal she used to know. “Tell him I meant what I said. In the card.” She gives him a confused look. “He'll know,” he adds with a small nod.

Then he walks past her with quick steps, back out onto the main road.

“Hal,” she calls after him, and he stops, but doesn’t turn around. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he says, and a moment later he is gone.


	6. Captured

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas guys!

Coming down  
Solid ground  
It's not the same  
How do you feel?  
Something has changed  
Life's rearranged  
Faces are grey, worn, pale  
How do you feel?

\- Feeder, “Bruised”

Natasha ambles into the kitchen the next morning in a much improved state from last night, owing to the month-or-so’s supply of cocaine she managed to pilfer off Mark’s body and what used to be their shared flat. A supply that is currently at least semi-safely stowed away at the bottom of one of Dominic's many untouched boxes in the living room.

She is surprised to see Dominic in the kitchen, turning around from the counter and putting a steaming mug of coffee down in front of her. The expression on his face is unreadable.

“I heard you in the bathroom,” he says. “I thought you could probably do with this judging by what time you came in last night.” He says all this without making eye contact, and she frowns.

“Thank you,” she says tentatively. “I appreciate it.”

His eyes come up to meet hers then, cold blue depths boring into her. “Anything you want to tell me?”

“Tell you?” She asks, genuinely puzzled.

“About where you were so late last night?”

She can't help the harsh laugh that bursts out of her. “Last time I checked, you weren't my dad.”

Dominic’s brow furrows. “I never said I was.”

“But now that I think of it,” Natasha continues, trying to steer the conversation in a different direction, “there is something I wanted to tell you. A message.”

“A message?” he echoes, and his frown deepens.

“Yeah,” she says with a nod. “You see, I saw Hal again last night.”

This gets Dominic’s attention. His eyes go almost comically wide and he freezes halfway through buttering his toast. “You did?” he whispers.

Natasha nods, ignoring the brief stab in her chest at his reaction. “He… took care of a problem for me.” She looks up at him. “And he gave me a message for you.”

“What did he say?” Dominic’s voice is still almost inaudible as he stares at her with intense blue eyes.

“He said to tell you that he meant what he said in the card,” she recalls. “I haven't got the faintest clue what he means, to be honest. But he said you'd know.”

Dominic looks down, then, and she can see him swallow compulsively multiple times. “I do.”

There is silence for a long moment while Dominic stares down at the table top, seemingly in his own world. A slight frown plays on his brow, but otherwise he is completely still.

“You okay?” Natasha asks after a minute.

His eyes snap up to hers as if coming out of a trance. “Yes, I… that was unexpected, that's all.”

Natasha gets the feeling that she is not going to find out what all of this is about, so she decides the best move is to change the subject.

“I'm surprised you're not at work today.”

He gives her a swift nod and a smile, mask firmly back in place. It makes her heart ache. “Yes, I took another couple of days off because I didn't know if I needed to do anything about the ritual.”

“Oh yeah, how did that go?” she asks with genuine interest. With everything that happened last night, she had completely forgotten that that was where he had gone yesterday.

“Not well,” Dominic says gloomily, shaking his head.

“He didn't know anything?”

“Oh no, he did,” Dominic clarifies. “It's more that the ritual in its current state is pretty much useless.”

“Urgh, that sucks,” she says, lifting the mug up to her mouth to take a big gulp of coffee.

She half expects him to tell her off for language, but all he says is, “It does quite.”

“So what’s the plan now?” she asks.

Dominic heaves a deep sigh. “I guess we will have to concentrate on the other problem.”

He doesn’t meet her eyes as he says it, but she still knows exactly what, or rather who, he is referring to as the ‘other problem’. “Hal,” she says, and he nods.

“Tom is just finishing up the preparations at Honolulu Heights. Alex says he has made sure everything is one hundred and ten percent safe. I guess we will just have to trust him on that.” He swallows and looks directly at her with serious eyes. “And once that is done, we will… bring the plan into action.”

She nods and takes another sip of coffee. “Have you… spoken to Tom at all?” she asks after a moment, because damn, she wants to know how he is doing.

Much to her disappointment, he shakes his head. “Not directly, no. We’ve only been communicating via Alex. I think he makes me indirectly responsible for you leaving, and for what happened with Hal.” He pauses with a small huff. “So I guess we’re not exactly on speaking terms at the moment.”

She frowns. “But none of that was your fault.”

“You could say that it was,” he says with a sad smile. “But lets not talk about that, okay?”

Natasha stares at him for a long moment. He has changed so much, it’s almost uncanny. The Dominic she used to know would never have made himself so vulnerable in front of other people, least of all her. Nowadays, it seems like the smallest mention of anything to do with Hal and he’s an emotional wreck. Thinking back to last night, and Hal’s reaction to her mentioning Dominic, she can’t help the thought that pops into her head, which is the last thing she ever thought she’d willingly think.

These guys really need to get back together.

***

Dominic looks down at the phone in his hand as if it is the first time he has seen it in his life. His thumb nervously taps on the plastic body of the device.

“Are you sure you are ready to do this?” Alex asks, and he can clearly hear the concern in her voice.

Looking up from the phone, he gives her a small nod and a shaky smile. “Yes, Alex. Thank you.”

“You really sure?” she presses on. “Because I could—”

“No, really, it’s okay. It has to be me.” He looks straight at her – his ability to locate her has been steadily increasing over the last few months.

He can hear her sigh. “All right, then. In your own time, Blondie.”

Looking back down at his phone screen, he takes a deep breath and starts scrolling through his contacts, until a familiar name jumps out at him, and it seems like once he has seen it, nothing else exists, only that name. He clicks on it to bring up the message window.

His breath catches in his throat as his eyes fall on the last message in their conversation.

**I’m on my way to you. Should be there by midnight xx**

Dominic reads the time stamp on the message – _Wed 17 April, 11.02 PM._ He remembers only too well the night when Hal sent him that message, almost three months ago now. The night that Hal killed four people at a petrol station. The night that everything changed.

Dominic almost wants to laugh now, when thinking back to how hurt and angry he felt when he heard about Hal killing those four people. Since he left, he has killed at least another twenty-one that they know of, probably more that have never been found.

And here he is, hand shaking with nerves and stomach fluttering wildly as he is about to type out a message to that vicious monster, because, despite everything, he is still head over heels in love with him.

Dominic takes a deep breath, and it comes back out shaky and ragged. This is such a bad idea. Lifting his trembling fingers to the phone, he quickly types,

**_Hey_ **

He stares at the one lonely word on the screen for a long moment, thumb hovering over the ‘Delete’ button.

Should he add anything else? But what more could he possibly say to him?

Before he has any further chance to change his mind, he quickly presses ‘Send’ and squeezes his eyes tightly shut.

“Done,” he says into the quiet room.

“Okay,” Alex replies immediately. “So now we wait for him to get back to you.”

He lets out another shaky breath. “Yeah.”

The next few minutes are the longest in Dominic’s life, as he sits and stares at the phone in his hand, willing it to deliver a reply. He swallows compulsively as the lump in his throat grows and grows while he waits.

“What if he doesn’t reply?” he asks quietly.

“He will,” Alex says, sounding completely sure, and he nods, trying to convince himself.

After a few more minutes, the small device finally vibrates in his hand, and Dominic looks at the screen with wide eyes.

**Well, this is a surprise**

Dominic is not sure what he expected him to say, but this is certainly not it. Letting out a choked little laugh, he types out a reply,

**_A good surprise or a bad surprise?_ **

Hal’s next message comes a lot more quickly.

**That depends. Why are you texting me?**

_Because I love you and I miss you and I want to see you again,_ Dominic thinks, but immediately reins in those thoughts. They are not helpful. What he actually types out is,

**_Natasha delivered your message_ **

Then, before Hal has any chance to respond, he follows it up with,

**_I think we should meet up_ **

Hal’s reply takes a little bit longer after this, but eventually, his phone vibrates and he reads,

**Are you sure you want to do this?**

Dominic closes his eyes for a moment and swallows. _No, Hal. I’m really not. But I don’t have a choice._

**_Yes_ **

Hal’s next reply arrives quickly, almost as if he had already started typing it before Dominic sent his answer.

**I didn’t think you’d ever want to see me again**

Dominic’s chest tightens painfully as his eyes run over the words. He has to remind himself once more why he is doing this. His own feelings don’t matter, this is about something much more important than that.

**_Looks like you were wrong_ **

It takes Hal a few minutes to reply, in which Dominic can't tear his eyes away from the phone. Finally, Hal’s next message arrives.

**Do you want me to come over to your place?**

Dominic looks up from the screen, towards Alex. “He’s asking if he should come here.”

“If you’re comfortable with that,” Alex says.

He heaves a deep sigh, thinking about it for a long moment. Is he ready for Hal to come back here? He was hoping to meet somewhere more… neutral, but then again, this is definitely the most private option, and they can’t afford anyone else seeing what they are going to do.

He looks back over at Alex again, frowning. “And you’re really sure this is going to work?”

“Yes, Dominic,” she says with a sigh. “We’ve been through this. I’ve already done it once, it definitely works.”

He nods, “All right.”

Turning his attention back to the phone screen, he types,

**_I’d like that. When would be a good time for you?_ **

**Tomorrow evening? Around 7?**

Dominic’s heart aches when he thinks that in less than twenty-four hours, Hal could actually be here, with him.

 _But not for long. You know what you’ve got to do,_ the rational part of his brain reminds him.

_Yes, but that still means I’ll get to see him first._

******_Yes, that sounds good_ ** ** **

******See you tomorrow** ** **

Dominic is about to put his phone down when another message arrives.

******I love you** ** **

Dominic stares at the words for a small eternity. Then, swallowing down the huge lump in his throat, he locks the screen and puts the phone away in his pocket.

“He’s coming tomorrow evening,” he says, and his voice shakes only very slightly, but Alex still seems to pick up on it.

“I’m sorry you had to do that,” she says.

He gives her a small smile. “Don’t be. It was the only way.”

***

Dominic paces up and down the room, checking his watch for what must be the hundredth time. It’s three minutes to seven. Any minute now…

Alex excused herself about ten minutes ago under the pretence of having to check with Tom that all the necessary last minute preparations have been made, but he knows that the real reason for her sudden departure was that he was driving her up the wall with his nervous energy. His heart is hammering in his chest, and he forces himself to take a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

When the sound of the doorbell eventually does ring in the hallway, it almost seems unreal to him. Turning mid-pace, he makes his way to the intercom by the door, clears his throat and says, “Hello?”

“Hey,” Hal’s voice sounds through the intercom, and the reality of it hits him square in the chest, taking his breath away. Hal is here. He is actually here. “Are you going to let me in? Or have you changed your mind?”

He sounds like _his_ Hal, Dominic notices, not like the other one, and it throws him more than he thought possible. He was sure that by this point, the other personality would have taken a firm hold of him. Hearing him now, so familiar, so _normal_ , makes what they are about to do so much more difficult. Dominic’s chest clenches painfully.

“Just a second,” Dominic chokes out, and operates the door release. As soon as he can hear the door buzzing downstairs, he pulls out his phone and quickly texts Alex,

**_He’s just arrived_ **

Alex’s reply is immediate.

**Okay. I’ll be there in a minute.**

_Please just give me a moment alone with him,_ Dominic thinks desperately, but doesn’t have the courage to actually put the thought into a message. He knows she would never understand.

***

The lift doors open, and Hal steps out onto the familiar landing. Looking up, he can see Dominic standing in the open doorway, looking at him with an unreadable expression in those blue eyes.

He looks pale, gaunt and tired, and it makes Hal want to scream with frustration that he isn't taking better care of himself. Why is he like this? Hal thought, with him leaving, that Dominic would get a chance to recover, to heal, not… this.

Hal takes a deep breath and desperately clings on to the control that he has so painstakingly taken hold of in his mind, with the other one clawing at his consciousness, furious to have been cast aside. But this moment is too significant, too important, he can't risk fucking this up. He may only get this one chance after all.

Taking a few slow steps towards the door, he sees Dominic almost imperceptibly tense, brace himself. He can’t blame him, he thinks dejectedly, but it still leaves a bitter taste in his mouth.

“Hi there,” Hal says, trying to put as much positive energy as he can muster into that one statement. He would have liked to have given Dominic a smile as well, but the positivity doesn’t seem to reach that far.

“Hal,” Dominic chokes out, as though he struggles to get his lungs to work.

Hal takes another small step forward, and comes up against an invisible barrier. Flinching back instinctively, he furrows his brows in realisation of what this means. “You rescinded the invitation,” he states.

Dominic nods, standing just inside the door, just out of reach, and Hal is surprised by how much the thought hurts. “I did it when I first got back from hospital. Thought it was probably a sensible thing to do at the time.”

Hal gives him a small nod, trying to ignore the way his stomach turns at Dominic’s mention of the hospital. The hospital he put him into, after nearly killing him. The sight of him, looking so small and pale and fragile, asleep in that hospital bed, still haunts him to this day.

“It probably was.”

“Yes. It was,” Dominic says, sounding as if he is trying to convince himself as much as Hal.

They stand in silence for a long moment, just staring at each other, not sure how to proceed from here. What can he possibly say to him? How can he possibly make up for what he did?

“So, you wanted to see me?” Hal says finally, and Dominic nods again.

“Yes. I…” He takes a deep breath. “Please, come in.”

Hal feels the invisible barrier dissipate, and Dominic moves back to give him space to come through into the hallway. Dominic closes the door and turns around to face him, and once again they stand looking at each other, not sure what to say or do. Hal finds that even without the actual barrier of the doorway, there is still a distance between them that, despite it only being a few short feet in reality, seems insurmountable.

Dominic gives a small, nervous laugh, says, “I’m not really sure how to do this.”

Hal takes a deep breath and starts saying, “It’s–” when a familiar smell hits his nostrils, and he frowns, eyes homing in on Dominic’s wrist. “What’s that?” he asks, voice going husky.

Dominic’s eyes widen fractionally, and he swallows. “What’s what?”

Before his mind has a conscious chance to catch up on what he is doing, Hal’s hand has shot out to grab Dominic’s arm, and he pulls it towards himself. He can feel Dominic struggling against him, hears him saying, “Hal, stop,” but his body is acting without his consent, fingers opening Dominic’s shirt cuff and revealing—

“What’s this, Dominic?” he asks, gaze fixed on the two small marks on his pale skin. One of them looks like it is no more than a day old, the other, maybe three or four. When the other man doesn’t reply, Hal’s eyes come up to bore into his. “What the fuck have you done?”

Dominic’s nostril’s flare as he forcefully pulls his arm away form Hal’s grasp, pulling down his sleeve and closing the buttons. There is a challenge in his eyes when he replies, “What’s it to you?”

“What’s it to me?” Hal bites out, taking a step towards Dominic. Invading his personal space, he knows, but somehow he is beyond caring right now. “Are you fucking serious? How long have you been doing that to yourself?”

“Let it go, Hal, please,” he says then, sounding tired and deflated, and Hal feels an uncomfortable pang in his chest.

This is his doing. He has done this to Dominic. His hand reaches out again towards Dominic’s, who instinctively pulls away, but Hal takes another step closer in pursuit, and eventually his fingers lightly circle around the other’s wrist. His fingertips lightly brush over the place where he knows the marks are hidden under Dominic’s cuff.

“I’m so sorry,” Hal says, looking down, afraid of what he will see in Dominic’s eyes if he looks up.

“It’s not your fault, Hal,” Dominic says, and Hal is startled when he can feel his breath against his face. It is only now he realises how close they are standing.

His eyes come up and Dominic’s are right there, big and blue and so familiar, like two oceans he can feel himself drowning in. He finds it impossible to look away.

“Hal,” Dominic breathes, barely audible.

“Hmm?”

“I want you to know, whatever happens… I love you too.”

Two things happen in quick succession after this. Dominic leans in and brushes his lips against his, and he can feel his heart beat once, twice, as he closes his eyes and moves in to reciprocate the kiss. The next moment, there is something cold circling around his waist, and then the unsettling, dizzying feeling of floating in space, without gravity, for the briefest moment, before his feet make contact with hard ground again and his eyes fly open to see…

“Tom?” he asks with a frown, fighting against an overwhelming feeling of disorientation.

“I’m sorry, mate,” Tom says, and out of the corner of his eye, Hal can see him lifting his hand, with something in it, and then everything goes black.

***

Dominic opens his eyes and stares disbelievingly at the empty space where, only a split-second before, Hal had been standing. His breaths are coming in short, ragged gasps, and his heart is hammering so hard it feels like it is about to burst out of his chest.

He can still feel the ghost of Hal’s lips on his own. It felt so familiar, so _right_ , and in that moment he wished he could have stayed there with him forever. That he could have told Alex to leave, to leave them alone, that he had changed his mind, he would keep Hal here with him, they would figure something out…

And then he was gone.

Dominic gulps in a deep breath, then another, forces his racing heart to calm down. It’s too late. He has done what he was supposed to do, and Hal is gone.

He is safe now. In time, he might even be able to see him again.

Except, Hal might not want to see him ever again after this.

“I’m so sorry,” he says into the empty room. “I had to do it. For your sake. It was the right thing to do.”

 _Then why,_ a little disruptive voice speaks up at the back of his mind, _does it feel so wrong?_

***

Hal’s eyes flutter open, and the first thing he sees is the unmistakable dirty white wall that tells him he is in basement at Honolulu Heights. His next observation, which is not entirely unexpected after the first one, is that he is sitting in a chair, and that his arms and legs are bound.

He throws his head back and lets out a short, humourless laugh. “You fucking tricked me. You crafty bastard.”

“It wasn’t his idea,” Alex’s voice pipes up, and Hal’s head whips around to see the ghost standing in the corner of the room.

Narrowing his eyes at her, he drawls, “Well, I knew _you_ were involved. How else would you have managed to get me here.” He pauses as she walks around to stand in front of him, by the door. “The difference is, with you, I would have expected this. But I honestly thought Dominic would be smarter than this.”

“What do you mean?” Alex asks.

He gives her a big, toothy smile. “Oh, Alex. You don’t seriously think you can hold me in here, do you?”

“I don’t think so, I know so,” she says, lifting her eyebrows at him.

“Oh yes?” he asks, intrigued.

She nods. “Yep. Tom spent the last three weeks reinforcing the walls and the door, covering up the skylight, and installing a cat flap,” here she leans down to move said cat flap, wiggling her eyebrows at him, “so you don’t ever need to leave this room. There is an alarm on the door so Tom and I will know as soon as the door is tampered with. And of course I can move in and out of here whenever I need to.”

He chuckles. “Looks like you’ve really thought of everything, haven’t you?”

“Like I said,” Alex says with another nod.

“Except, I got in somehow, so I can get out.”

Alex barks out a laugh. “Yeah, dream on, Hal. You won’t convince me to help you out of here. Not in a million years.”

“I accept the challenge,” he says and winks.

Alex huffs. “You hungry?” she asks after a moment.

“Not for anything you can offer me.”

She makes a face. “That’s disgusting, Hal.” He just gives her a long look and a smile in return, and she rolls her eyes and looks away. “Well, let me know if you are, or if there is anything else you need. Your phone is there,” she points to the arm of the chair, by his right hand. “I’m number one on speed dial.”

“Any other numbers I should know of?” he asks then, and she narrows her eyes at him.

“Leave him alone, Hal, I’m warning you. You’ve done more than enough damage as it is.”

An image of two stark marks on pale white skin flashes before his mind’s eye, and he snorts. “It certainly seems that way.”

Alex, who looked like she was getting ready to rent-a-ghost out, stops in her tracks and looks at him with a frown on her face. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, nothing,” he says.

He can tell that she is not convinced, but she also seems to have decided not to pursue it further. “Well, in that case, have a good day, Hal.”

The next moment, she has disappeared, and he finds himself alone, tied up in a chair in the silent basement.

He looks around himself, and the reality of the situation comes crashing down on him. He carefully tests out the straps keeping his arms and legs in place. They don’t budge. He can see that the chair itself, as well as the leather straps, are fastened to the concrete floor. Despite what he said to Alex only moments before, he doesn’t immediately see a way out of here. They really do seem to have thought of everything. Letting out a sigh of frustration, he closes his eyes. “Fucking shit,” he grinds out into the silence of the room.

At this moment in time, the hunger is only a gentle tickle at the bottom of his stomach, and isolated as he is down here in the basement, he expects it to not get severe for at least the next few days. But after that, he knows what kind of hell is expecting him if he doesn’t get any blood. It’s not going to be pretty.

Hal lets out a quiet, dark chuckle. Alex and Tom will wish they never brought him back here.


	7. Perspectives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks so much for reading!
> 
> I couldn’t help but get a bit of Tom/Natasha in here, but I promise that next chapter will be focussing on Hal/Dominic again :)

I think that it's brainless  
To assume that making changes  
To your window's view  
Will give a new perspective

\- Death Cab for Cutie, “Blacking Out the Friction”

It’s been three hours since Hal was so unceremoniously removed from his flat. From his life. Dominic knows that, if all goes to plan, he is not going to see him again for the foreseeable future, and that the process may well upset the precarious balance that Hal seems to have found recently between his two identities.

He knew the risks, and he agreed to go ahead anyway, blindly following Alex’s reassurances of ‘It’s going to be all right’ and ‘We did it once before’ and ‘It’s the only way to save him’. Dominic didn’t have the heart to point out to her that yes, they did it once before, but it ended only a few short months later with Hal standing in front of him, in the Archive, begging him for blood.

He never believed in abstinence as a reliable way of dealing with vampires, so why did he suddenly change his mind now? What made him agree to this?

What made him subject the man he loves to being held prisoner in an empty cellar for months on end while going through the most extreme, most excruciating form of withdrawal he could possibly imagine?

 _I’m sorry, Hal,_ he thinks with a heavy heart. _I love you too._

_I guess you can say we’re quits now._

“How did it go?” Natasha’s voice drifts through the fog of despair that he finds himself in, sitting on the sofa, trying and failing to watch the BBC news. He’s been sitting here for most of the evening, he realises, barely moving, barely thinking straight, in a state of shock and disbelief after what happened earlier.

Snapping out of it, he lifts his eyes towards the doorway, where Natasha is standing, regarding him with a sad little half-smile on her face.

“It worked,” is all he says, and she sighs and walks over to the sofa, taking a seat next to him.

“You don’t look happy,” she says with a small frown.

He lets out a small laugh. “I’m not happy. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that Hal is contained, and I can tell Casselli… actually, you know what, let me do that now,” he says, and pulls his phone from his pocket.

“Dominic, it’s ten past ten in the evening.”

He looks at her somewhat blankly. “I’m sure he’d want to know anyway.”

Looking through his contacts, he finds Casselli’s number and dials. It rings three times before the other man picks up.

“Casselli,” he says gruffly.

“Inspector,” Dominic starts, and ignores the lump that is already forming in his throat again. “I thought you might want to know that you don’t have to worry about Hal anymore. We have dealt with the situation.”

There is silence on the other end for a moment before Casselli answers, “That’s excellent news, Mr Rook. I know you said to leave the details of the operation to you and not to get involved, and I respected that. But now that you’ve done it… do you mind telling me what you did?”

Dominic takes a deep breath. “He’s safely contained,” he says.

“A little bit more detail wouldn’t go amiss, Mr Rook,” Casselli says, and there is an undertone in his voice that says, _I will find out one way or another, so you might as well tell me now_.

“He’s… back in Barry.”

“ _Barry?_ ” Casselli barks down the phone line, making Dominic jump. He moves his hand holding the phone slightly away from his ear. Natasha gives him a quizzical look, as Casselli continues his verbal barrage, “Why…? _How…_? What were you thinking, bringing him back to the place where we’re monitoring the blooming _Devil_?”

Doing his very best to remain calm, Dominic replies, “It’s the best place for him, Inspector, please take my word for it.” Casselli is about to say something else, but Dominic doesn’t give him a chance. “As for the how… I had a little help from Alex for that. She was able to transport him back to Barry in an instant, and she has since let me know that he is contained in a very safe location.”

Casselli snorts. “If you say so.”

“And with regards to the Devil,” Dominic finishes, “I don’t think he’s too much of a concern right now.”

“I wish I had your confidence, Mr Rook,” Casselli says. “But fine, I trust that you know what you are doing. Just… keep me informed.”

“Of course, Inspector,” Dominic bites out. He can’t wait to have the man off his back.

“All right. Have a good evening, Mr Rook,” Casselli says, and ends the call. Dominic puts his phone down and lets out a long breath he didn’t realise he’d been holding.

“He’s a real pain in the arse, isn’t he?” Natasha says, and Dominic looks over at her with furrowed brows.

“You could say that,” he says with a small nod. Then the thought of Casselli brings with it another piece of information that he realises he still hasn’t discussed with her. His stomach knots uncomfortably, just thinking about how to broach the subject.

“Hey, do you mind if I change the channel?” she asks then, looking at him with big eyes and that little half-smile on her lips that he hasn’t seen for so long. “There’s a new show on I’d really like to watch.”

Dominic feels the knot in his stomach loosen as he looks at her, and a small smile forms on his own face as he nods. “Go right ahead.”

They’ve had enough drama for one day, he decides. This can wait for a little while.

***

Five days in, the hunger has firmly taken hold in the centre of Hal’s gut, burning him alive from the inside. A cold sweat has broken out on his brow. He clenches his teeth while he taps his fingers against the wooden arm rests in a bid to distract himself from the unbearable pain.

At least, Hal thinks absent-mindedly, the other one has finally given up, has retreated into the deepest recesses of his mind to sulk about Dominic's ‘betrayal’ or some nonsense like that. Sentimental idiot. All those weeks of him trying to rebuild his life, trying to have some fun, trying to just _live_ a little, and he didn't give him a moment’s peace with his _feelings_ and tireless thoughts of humanity, of morality.

And now… now that he is locked in a fucking bare cellar with nothing but his own thoughts for company, the stupid coward had to all of a sudden go into heartbreak mode and completely shut down, leaving him to deal with this mess of a situation. Bloody typical.

A particularly violent spasm hits his gut at that moment, making him double over in the chair, and he hears himself let out a very undignified groan. Obviously alerted by the noise, a moment later Alex materialises in front of him.

“You okay?” she asks, but her voice doesn’t sound like she really cares either way.

“Do I fucking look like I’m okay, bitch?” he bites out around another twist of his stomach.

She sighs. “Hal.”

“What?” he growls and, with great effort, straightens himself up and looks straight into her eyes.

“We’ve been over this,” she says, as if that explains anything. “Multiple times, actually. This time _and_ the time before.”

He gives her a long look, clenching his teeth to control the burning pain. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Alex takes a deep breath and lets out another, deeper sigh. “You are not to use abusive language towards myself or Tom, or we will stop assisting you and just leave you to rot down here.”

Rolling his eyes, he gives her as big of a fake smile as he can muster through the pain and says, “Please excuse me, _Alex_. But to be honest, there’s nothing you can fucking do to help me anyway, so I think I’ll just call you whatever I want, you dead bitch.”

“All right, that’s it,” Alex snaps and disappears in a huff.

 _Give me strength_ , Hal thinks, exasperated. So she ties him to a chair in a fucking empty cellar for days on end like the worst kind of lowlife prisoner, withholding his _food source_ and making him go through this hell, and still expects him to be _nice_ to her? Fat fucking chance.

The hunger drives another white-hot poker through his gut, and Hal lets out a growl of frustration. Down here in the cellar, there is not even the faintest hint of any human smell he can pick up. Only cold, slightly musty air that is perfectly void of everything. It’s like he is existing in a vacuum, and at this moment in time, he is convinced that he will not survive this. He _has_ to get out, somehow.

The question is, how? Alex has made it more than clear that she is not going to help him, the sanctimonious cow. ‘Oh, but we’re doing this for your own good’. Of course. Because you know what it’s like to sit here in this cellar, where you don't even know whether it’s day or night, and to get a few hours of restless sleep at a time only to wake up to merciless cravings for _blood._

No, she can never understand. But he knows someone else who might. Who has always shown an exceptional understanding of his situation, beyond what he could ever expect from a human.

Hal’s right hand reaches out as much as he can within the tight leather strap, and he unlocks his phone, bringing up the short list of contacts. His finger hovers for a long moment over the familiar name, and he is about to connect the call as another spasm hits his stomach, doubling him over and forcing him to squeeze his eyes shut.

By the time he opens them again, the phone screen has locked itself, and he looks back at the black screen thoughtfully for a moment. _Leave him alone,_ the other one argues at the back of his mind, the first thing he has said in five days. _Let him heal. He’s hurting because of you, and he will never get better if you keep interfering with his life. He’s better off without you._

Hal scoffs, but takes his hand off the phone nevertheless. _Go back to sleep, or whatever it is you do,_ he tells the other one as he leans back in the chair, trying to make himself comfortable. It’s going to be another hell of a long night.

***

Alex materialises in front of the reception desk at the Barry Grand and looks at Tom, who is just at that moment letting out a big yawn. The hotel is very quiet this time of night, with most guests either being out on the town or already having retreated to their rooms for the evening. She clears her throat to alert him to her presence, and he startles as his eyes fall on her.

“Alex. Wassup?” he asks, eyebrows drawing together. “Something the matter with Hal?”

She huffs. “You could say that. He’s an insufferable arse, as usual.”

“Yeah,” Tom nods. “He seems to be even worse this time than last. If that’s possible.”

“Oh, believe me, it's possible,” Alex agrees heatedly, then sobers. “But I guess that makes sense. He went a lot further down that road this time ‘round. It’s… going to be difficult.”

Tom nods, looking thoughtful. “Yeah. Dunno if it’s really worth it all, to be honest. I mean, do ya really think he’s gonna change back? Or are we jus’ too late this time?”

She comes around the reception desk and takes a seat on the desk, legs dangling. Looking back down at where Tom is sitting, watching her, she says, “We’ll have to at least give it a try. We owe that to him… and to Dominic.”

Tom snorts, face contorting into an ugly frown. “I don’t care what _he_ wants. Far as I’m concerned, he’s the reason we’re in this mess to start with.”

“Tom…” Alex starts, and sighs. “What happened isn’t his fault. He… he’s been through a very tough time since… well… basically, you shouldn’t be so hard on him. He doesn’t deserve that.”

“No?” Tom snaps. “And what about Natasha?”

Alex raises her eyebrows at him. “What about Natasha?”

“It’s his fault she left, innit? Because he allowed Hal to… to… urgh, I can’t even say it.” She can see Tom balling his hands into fists.

Truth be told, the thought of Dominic allowing Hal to drink his blood still doesn't sit right with her, either, but she decided long ago to forgive and move on. There's no point in holding a grudge.

Mulling over what Tom said, though, Alex frowns as a thought occurs to her. “You do know that Natasha and Dominic are back in touch, right?”

“Wha’?” Tom asks abruptly. “But ya never… why didn’t ya tell me?”

Alex shakes her head. “I’m sorry, Tom. With everything else that happened, it just–”

“Don’t say it didn’t come up,” he interrupts. “This is Tasha we’re talkin’ about.”

“I know… I… well, anyway, she’s staying with Dominic at the moment. So I guess if you want to get back in touch…” she drifts off, and he looks at her with a pensive frown.

“Have you spoken to her?” he asks quietly.

Alex fixes her eyes on him. “Yeah, briefly. She… asked about you.”

“She did?” he asks, perking up.

She nods. “Yeah. You know what? I think you should contact her. She looked like she was going through some rough stuff, I think she’d appreciate hearing your voice.”

“You think?” Tom asks, eyebrows drawing together, and it makes her smile.

“Yes, Tom. I do.”

Their conversation is cut short by the reception phone ringing loudly in the otherwise silent room. Alex jumps slightly, and out of the corner of her eye she can see Tom’s face morph into a full-blown frown.

“Who’d be callin’ at eleven in the evening?”

Alex shrugs. “Only one way to find out.”

Tom reaches over to pick up the phone. “Good evening, this is the Barry Grand, Tom speaking.”

Alex can just about hear a male voice through the receiver, but it’s too quiet for her to make out any words. Watching Tom, she can see him concentrating intently on what the other person is saying.

After a short moment, Tom replies, “Yeah, that’s me. Who told you this?”

Alex frowns at him, but he gestures to her to leave it be for now, so she sits back on the counter and watches the exchange curiously.

“Right,” Tom says, “of course you can book a room in our hotel, sir.” He pulls out the guest register and flicks through the pages until he finds what he is looking for. Making an entry in the book, he says, “There you go, sir, I’ve booked you a double room from 15th of August for two weeks.” Then Tom’s brow furrows and his voice drops to almost a whisper when he asks, “Sir, may I ask what you are planning to do about the 21st?”

It takes Alex a moment to connect the dots, but when she does, her eyes widen as she looks over at Tom, who is still holding the receiver to his ear and listening.

“All right then, sir, if you’re sure. I can give you some pointers when you arrive, for the best places to go.” The other person says something unintelligible again, and Tom replies, “Of course, sir, all part of the service.” Then, after another short break, “Have a good day.”

Tom puts the receiver down and turns around to Alex, frown still firmly in place. “Well, that was weird.”

“A werewolf?” Alex asks, intrigued.

Tom nods. “Yeah. Had quite a heavy accent, Spanish or summat, I dunno. And the weirdest thing is, somehow he _knew_ of me an’ Hal, and that we work here… well, in Hal’s case, obviously, he don’t now, but still.”

“How did he say he knew you?”

“He didn’t really explain,” Tom says. “Jus’ that he knows someone who knows someone who knows Hal. Guess that could be anyone, since Hal probably knows all the supernaturals that ever lived.”

Alex narrows her eyes. “And he asked to stay at this hotel, specifically?”

“Yeah. Said he an’ his partner are travellin’ from Brazil after the full moon tomorrow. Takes twenty-three days for the freighter to get ‘ere. He wanted someplace to stay when they arrive.”

“Huh. I guess that makes sense,” Alex concedes. “Is his partner a werewolf too?”

“Nah,” Tom says, and his face turns sour. “Vampire.”

Alex’s eyes widen. “A werewolf and a vampire? Together? I thought Hal said that’s not the done thing?”

Tom shudders. “Believe me, it ain't. But hey, each to their own.”

“What’s his name?” Alex asks, thinking she might pick Dominic’s brain at some point. “The vampire?”

Tom looks down to check the guest register. “It’s Carl. Carl Graham.”

***

Natasha is dishing up a generous helping of cottage pie for Dominic, and a slightly smaller one for herself. She’s not feeling hungry. Smiling at the man sitting across from her at the kitchen island, she puts the plate down in front of him.

“There you go,” she says brightly. All she gets in reply is a frown. Dominic has not been himself for the last week, since their plan to capture Hal went ahead. Watching him looking at his plate for a long moment, she realises that he probably has even less of an appetite than she does, and that just cooking the food for him will not make him eat more. “Are you okay?” she asks tentatively.

Shaking himself as if coming out of a deep thought, he trains tired eyes on her. “I’m fine,” he says with a weak smile that doesn’t convince her in the slightest.

She sighs. “Is this still about Hal?” she asks, because Jesus, he has to stop torturing himself about this.

“Some of it,” he says quietly, a frown on his face. Then, he schools his face into a more neutral look and says, “Listen, Tasha.”

“Yes?” she asks, looking at him expectantly.

He clears his throat and continues, “I, erm, when I spoke to Casselli about… about Jen…” he drifts off again.

Natasha is starting to get a bad feeling about this. What brought this on? Why is he suddenly talking about _Jen_? She can feel herself tensing up, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on edge.

“Yes?” she asks, trying to sound nonchalant and failing miserably.

“He told me about… what Jen did for a living,” he presses on, averting his eyes.

 _No,_ Natasha thinks, her stomach twisting into a thousand knots as her suspicions are all but confirmed. _Don’t say it, Dominic. Please don’t say it. You can’t know. You_ can’t.

“He also mentioned that you—”

And she realises that she can’t take this. That this is too painful for her to face. “Oh no,” she cuts in, and jumps up from her chair at the same time. “No, Dominic. I’m not having this conversation with you.” She turns her back to him, breaths coming rapidly, heart racing in her chest.

“Tasha,” he tries, but she can’t help but tense up again almost immediately at his words. She can’t do this.

“I should go,” she says and marches out of the kitchen and into the corner of the living room where she has flung her travel bag, clenching the zip between her fingers and yanking it closed.

She can hear Dominic’s footsteps on the wooden floor as he enters the room behind her. “Tasha, I wasn’t going to—”

“I told you, we’re not talking about this,” she snaps. “How dare he tell you about this? What's happened to… whatever… confidentiality?”

“He didn’t know I knew you,” Dominic explains, but to her, it just sounds like a flimsy excuse. “I don’t know why you won’t—”

She jumps to her feet and whirls around to face him. She struggles to focus on him through the tears that have sprung into her eyes, and she realises with frustration that they are starting to spill over and stream down her face. “Just because, Dominic,” she chokes out. “Because you weren’t ever supposed to know this, because… because…” _Because I feel ashamed. Because all I ever wanted was to be good enough in your eyes, and this is about as far from that as I can get._ But the words to express her thoughts just won't come.

“You told Hal,” he says then, and it feels like a punch in the chest. Of course he needs to bring that up.

“I didn’t have to,” she corrects after a moment. “He already knew.”

She has to get out of here. This is not supposed to happen, she hasn’t got a plan for this. Her eyes flick towards the door, then towards the stack of boxes in the corner, then back towards her bag on the floor.

“But you still spoke to him about it.” He sounds almost indignant, that she spoke to Hal but isn’t willing to speak to him. As if the two are _anything_ alike.

She lets out a small huff, says, “Because he understands.”

“And you think that I don’t.”

She looks up to face him again, eyes burning and tears still running down her face, taking in the deep frown on his face. “How could you? You don’t know what it’s like…” She pauses, then takes a deep breath and says, “You know, that guy that Hal killed? The twenty-first victim?” Dominic gives a small, nervous nod, clearly not sure where she is going with this. She continues, “I was there when he did it. I let him do it. You know why?”

“Why, Tasha?” he asks, eyes wide as he takes in her confession.

“Because I wanted to get rid of him. I wanted him to die. For all the times he forced me to… against my will… you will never understand what that’s like.”

She turns away from him again, picking up her bag and flinging it over her shoulder. Time to go. Crossing the room in quick steps, she takes another slightly panicked look towards the pile of boxes in the corner. There is no way she can access it now, without Dominic noticing. He is watching her like a hawk.

“Where are you going, Tasha?” Dominic asks, following her into the hallway. She whirls around to face him.

“I’m sorry, Dominic. I… I need to get away… from you.”

He comes to a standstill a few feet away from her, staring at her for a long moment. Then he does something very uncharacteristic, for Dominic. He reaches out and touches her arm. Natasha stares at the place where he touches her skin, then brings her eyes back up to look into his. There is something in there that she has never seen in Dominic’s eyes before. Is it fear?

“Please don’t leave, Tasha,” he says, and his voice sounds small and slightly hoarse. It is almost enough to make her reconsider.

“Why?” she asks, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice. “Didn’t think you’d want to share your flat with a prostitute.”

He flinches ever so slightly when she says it, and it makes her feel strangely vindicated. That is, until he says, “That’s not who you are to me, Tasha.”

She finds that she can’t look him in the eyes, can’t see the hurt, the disappointment, the fear that he is clearly radiating. Turning back towards the front door, she says, “I don’t believe you.” She can feel his eyes on her as she opens the heavy white door and steps over the threshold. The door falls shut behind her and she takes a deep breath.

Then an urgent thought invades her mind? Where the hell is she going to sleep tonight?

***

Tom is just about to dish up Hal’s dinner – not that the vampire has been eating any of the food they’ve been offering him up until now, but he’s not giving up hope – when there is an unmistakable knock on the door. Frowning, Tom puts down the serving spoon and makes his way down the hallway towards the door.

“Jus’ a second,” he calls as he unlocks the porch door and then the front door. You can’t be too careful with a detoxing vampire in the house.

Opening the door, Tom’s breath catches in his throat. In front of him, hands buried in the pockets of her ridiculously oversized parka and a sheepish look on her face, is… “Natasha,” he says, voice not quite obeying him and coming out as a croaky mess.

“Hey, Tom.” She gives him one of her trademark crooked smiles, and he can feel his heart soar.

“What are ya doin’ ‘ere?” he asks, then realises that that might not have been the best way forwards. “I mean, it’s great to see ya and all, but—”

“I’m sorry,” Natasha says, biting her lip as she looks at him hesitantly. “I should’ve probably told you I was on my way here.”

“No, it’s all right,” Tom says, unable to tear his eyes away from her. She looks tired, he thinks. Her eyes are red-rimmed, as if she’s been crying, and she looks pale and exhausted.

“Can I… come in?” she asks, forehead crinkling as she looks up at him.

He is just about to reply when there is an almighty crash and a roar from the direction of the cellar, and Tom instinctively pushes Natasha out of the way as he steps outside and shuts the door.

“Shit, I’m sorry, I completely forgot,” he says. At her questioning look, he adds, “Hal’s in there. We can’t… ya can’t be in there. If he smells ya again, he’s gonna tear down the door to get to ya.”

Her brow furrows as she eyes the door. “How is he?”

Tom frowns. “He’s strugglin’ at the moment,” he says. _That’s putting it very mildly,_ he thinks to himself, but that’s neither here nor there.

“I understand,” she says, looking away. “I was hoping… I thought that maybe I could stay with you.” She says that last bit very quickly, as if it makes her uncomfortable. “But obviously that’s not possible, so never mind.”

She is about to turn around and walk back down the path, when he finally springs into action. “No, Tasha, wait,” he calls after her.

Stopping in her tracks, she looks at him questioningly. He can see her shivering despite the mild weather, and he has to fight the urge to envelope her in a hug. “Yes?” she asks.

“I… I mean… Ya could… ya could stay at the hotel, if you want.” He inwardly curses himself for stumbling over his words like that. Why is it that as soon as he sees her, he turns into a complete, bumbling idiot?

The smile that spreads across her face at his suggestion, though, makes up for it at once. “Are you sure?” she asks tentatively.

He gives her a firm nod, feeling more confident. “Yeah. We ain’t fully booked or nowt, so you won’t take the room away from no one.”

She bites her lip. “In that case… yeah, I’d like that.”

“Okay,” he says, nodding again. “Let’s go.”

He signals for her to follow him down the path, and the two of them fall into step easily as they walk down the quiet road on this warm summer evening.

“How come—” he starts, just as she says, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Tasha, anytime,” he replies with conviction. Yes, she was rude and insulting to him the last time they saw each other, but Tom has come to the conclusion that she was very upset at the time, and he really shouldn’t hold it against her.

And the truth is that still, now, as soon as he sees her, he can feel a warm, fuzzy feeling in his chest that no one else ever made him feel to the same degree. Not even Allison.

He clears his throat and starts again, “How come you’re back in Barry?”

To his surprise, she turns slightly away from him, not meeting his eyes. She is quiet for a while before answering. “Dominic and I had a… falling out.”

“Huh. Good riddance if ya ask me,” Tom can’t help but mutter, but it makes her whirl around to him and look at him with stormy eyes.

“Please, Tom, don’t talk about him like that.”

“But he hurt you,” Tom points out with a frown.

She shakes her head. “No, he didn’t. He didn’t do anything wrong, it was… it was me. Long story, I don’t wanna talk about it.”

He looks at her for a moment and his frown deepens. Something is not right, but she says she doesn’t want to talk about it, so he won’t press her on it, for now. “All right,” he agrees.

She gives him another small smile, and it’s infectious. “I missed you,” she says, coming to a stop in front of the hotel doors.

“I missed ya too, Tasha,” he says. She leans in and he leans down, and their lips brush against each other. He had almost forgotten how soft her lips are, how much he likes kissing her. How much he has missed this.

She pulls back way too quickly for his liking. “We should go inside,” she says, and there is an undertone in her voice that he doesn’t like. He holds the door open for her before walking over to the reception desk, where their newest member of staff, Ellie, is sitting doodling on a piece of paper, looking bored out of her mind.

At Tom’s approach, she sits up straighter, startled. “Tom,” she blurts. “I didn’t expect you this late.”

“Jus’ checkin’ in a new guest,” Tom says distractedly, while leafing through the guest register in search of an empty room. Then he gets the key for Room 7 out of the key cupboard and turns around to Natasha. “Follow me,” he says.

“It’s weird, being back here,” Natasha says as they enter the room. Looking at him with that thoughtful expression again, she adds, “Do you think… is there any chance… that I could maybe work here again?”

He nods without a second thought. “Of course.”

Before he even knows what is happening, he’s got an armful of Natasha as she grasps him in a tight hug. “Thank you.” She pulls back slightly, and they look into each other’s eyes for a long moment. “I’m so sorry,” she says then, “for all the horrible things I said to you.”

“Don’t worry ‘bout it,” Tom says, “I understand ya were upset,” and he barely manages to finish before her lips are back on his.

Yes, he definitely missed this, he thinks as he kisses her back. And he won’t let her go again so easily.


	8. Talking Therapy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you once again, lovely readers! It really means a lot to me.
> 
> Here it is, the first chapter of the new year. I got a bit behind with my writing over the holiday period, but hopefully from now on I'll be back on track :)

Don't you know that I'll be around to guide you  
Through your weakest moments to leave them behind you?  
Returning nightmares only shadows  
We’ll cast some light and you’ll be alright

\- José González, “Crosses”

Dominic sits at his desk at work, desperately trying to concentrate on the email chain he is reading about what he hopes to be the final version of their new songbird conservation policy. He blames his lack of focus mostly on sleep deprivation – the nightmares have been more frequent and more vivid than ever after his recent encounter with Hal. But whatever the reason, the fact remains that he is reading this particular sentence for the fourth time as his mind keeps wandering to… other… issues.

_What’s this, Dominic? What the fuck have you done?_

Hal’s voice echoes in his mind, makes an uncomfortable feeling creep into his stomach and heat into his cheeks. His left wrist starts itching, and he, as inconspicuously as possible, moves both his hands into his lap under the desk to gently rub the itchy spot. It tempts him, he knows. It tells him that it is time to—

But no. Certainly not while he’s at work. He has to set himself some boundaries.

“Hey, Dominic, have you seen that email about the summer party?” Tracey’s voice drifts over from her desk, across the room.

He lifts his head towards her, but continues to rub his wrist out of sight. It calms him, grounds him, makes him able to face this surreal nightmare that he now calls his life.

“No, sorry, haven’t seen it yet,” he replies, once his mind has caught up with her question. “Summer party?”

“Yes,” she nods excitedly, eyes shining. “Week after next.”

“Huh,” Dominic replies noncommittally and turns back towards his screen. He couldn’t be less excited if he tried.

“Ooh, we should go together,” Tracey says in a stage whisper, blatantly ignoring his obvious indifference. “Seeing as we’re both single and all. I bet there’s going to be plenty of… eligible bachelors there.”

Dominic can’t help the groan that escapes his mouth at her words. “Trace, I’m not looking for ‘eligible bachelors’.”

Tracey sighs. “Dominic, it’s been _three months_. It’s time to move on, hun.”

“I—” Dominic isn’t actually sure how to continue the sentence, but as fate has it, he doesn’t have to, as at this precise moment, his mobile rings in his pocket. Jumping slightly in surprise, Dominic pulls the phone out and glances at the screen. The name that greets him causes his heart to nearly burst out of his chest. Swallowing compulsively, Dominic jumps up from his desk, mumbling a quick, “Sorry, got to take this,” and making his way out of the office and into the empty corridor.

Only once he is safely away from any prying ears, Dominic presses the button to answer the call.

“Hal?” he asks, slightly breathlessly.

“Hey there,” Hal answers, and Dominic is shocked at how croaky and exhausted he sounds. Then again, it’s been two weeks since Hal was forced into his involuntary detox. It shouldn’t really come as any surprise that he is suffering. Dominic just did his best not to think about it before now.

“Hal, I’m at work,” he says dumbly, kicking himself internally and earning a little exasperated chuckle on the other end.

“Yeah, I guess that’s what most people do this time of day. Not that I would know with any certainty what time of day it is, or even what day of the week. For all I know, it could be a Sunday night.”

Dominic takes a deep breath. “Hal, listen, I… I can’t really talk to you right—”

“Please, Dominic,” Hal breathes. Dominic can clearly hear his pain and desperation in those two words, and he can feel his resolve crumbling.

“All right, I’ve got a couple of minutes,” he can hear himself say, and moves to lean his back against the wall. Taking another careful look left and right, he adds, “It’s… good to hear your voice.”

Hal lets out something halfway between a laugh and a groan. “Yeah. Good to hear yours, too.”

Dominic wants to ask, _How are you_? But he knows the question will not go down well, so instead he says, “I’m sorry you have to go through this, Hal.”

“Yet you didn’t have any qualms about letting the bitch capture me.”

Dominic is taken aback by the venom in his voice. “Hal, don’t call her that. Alex, Tom and I are all acting in your—”

“Best interest, yeah, I’ve heard that before. Fuck, Dominic, what’s happened to you? You used to be reasonable about this kind of thing,” Hal croaks out.

Dominic sighs. “I realised that things couldn’t go on they way they were. It felt like the only solution.”

Hal lets out a frustrated huff. “Yes, well, you were wrong.”

“Which one of you is saying that, Hal?” Dominic asks, brow furrowing. In the state that he is in, it is almost impossible to tell just from his voice which one of Hal’s personalities he is talking to, especially over the phone.

“What does it matter?” Hal snaps, and it’s enough of an answer for Dominic.

“Right.”

Hal snorts. “So you’re suddenly not talking to me because I’m not your sweet, cuddly, _tame_ version of Hal?”

“Tame?” Dominic repeats, frowning. “You’re not my _pet_ , Hal.”

“No,” Hal says immediately. “If anything, it’s more the other way around.”

Dominic feels like he has been punched in the chest. “What do you mean?” he asks, but in reality he doesn’t have to. He knows exactly what Hal is trying to say.

Hal, apparently, has come to the same conclusion. “I’m not going to insult your intelligence, Dominic. But be that as it may, the reason I’ve called you… I need your help, Dominic.”

Alarm bells ring at the back of Dominic’s mind, but he replies nevertheless, “My help? With what?”

“You need to get me out of here,” Hal says through clenched teeth. “I’m…” he drifts off, and Dominic can hear a pained groan through the speaker. A moment later, Hal continues, “I’m going to die in here, Dominic. The withdrawal… it’s too much, too quickly, I can’t take it.”

_“There are only three ways of killing a Type 2. These are staking, burning and severe physical trauma. When killed by any method other than staking, a Type 2 may still be brought back to ‘life’ by a particular, involved ritual, which requires large amounts of blood from another Type 2. While blood withdrawal may lead to severe, incapacitating symptoms that can last for months, it will not be fatal to the Type 2.”_

Dominic’s mentor’s words when he was sixteen and freshly joining the Men in Grey plays itself in his mind like a textbook entry.

Taking a deep breath to gather his thoughts, he says, “You’ll be okay, Hal.”

“But, Dominic… no! You don’t understand!” he says urgently.

_“Type 2s undergoing blood withdrawal will resort to any means necessary to obtain blood. They will lie, cheat, manipulate or attack humans or other supernaturals to achieve their goal. The bloodlust is the most powerful driving force in a Type 2’s nature. It supersedes all other thoughts or emotions the Type 2 may experience at the time. Although, keep in mind, Dominic, that the notion of a Type 2 being able to feel emotions is in itself heavily disputed. Your father, for one, is strictly opposed to the idea.”_

_“What about you?”_

_“I’m… not so sure.”_

Dominic shakes off the memory and tries to focus back on the present. “I do understand, Hal,” he says quietly. “You’re going through withdrawal, it’s… messing with your head.”

“I thought you of all people would get it,” Hal replies, and Dominic can hear the beginnings of panic in his voice. “Please, Dominic, you’re the only one who can help me.”

Dominic closes his eyes, leaning all his weight back against the wall. “I’m sorry, Hal. I can’t.”

“Oh my god,” a female voice next to him squeals, and Dominic’s eyes fly open as he whips around to where the voice originated from. There, standing in the corridor a few feet away from him, two mugs of tea in her hands, stands Tracey.

Covering the phone with one hand, Dominic trains wide eyes on his colleague. “Tracey, I… give me a moment?” he asks helplessly.

An uncertain smile plays on Tracey’s lips as she replies, “Okay, but you will tell me what this is about.”

Dominic gives a jerky nod. “Sure.” Turning away from her and lifting the phone back to his ear, he says, “Sorry about that.”

Hal lets out a humourless chuckle. “Work colleague?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, in that case,” Hal says bitterly, “you better get back to it.”

“Hal, I’m… I’m sorry,” he says.

“You’ve already said that. Unfortunately, I can’t do anything with an apology.”

Dominic swallows down the lump in his throat. “It’s all I can offer you.”

 _Is it?_ A little voice at the back of his mind speaks up. _You’re awfully sure of yourself, suddenly. As far as I can remember, you sat at home only last night, contemplating over a glass of whiskey or three, whether it was really the right thing you’ve done, whether it wouldn’t be better to get him out of there and provide him with a controlled supply, like you did with so many others in the past._

Ignoring the voice, Dominic focusses back on Hal’s voice, dejected and weak. “Well, then. It’s been… good to speak to you either way.”

Dominic frowns at the gentleness in his voice. Is this really the other Hal? Is this just another attempt to manipulate him into helping?

Whatever it is, Dominic can’t help the next words that come out of his mouth. “You could call me again, you know. When I’m not at work. Perhaps… perhaps talking can take your mind off it.”

Hal chuckles, sounding slightly breathless when he replies, “Yeah. Next best thing, huh?”

“If that’s how you want to see it.”

There is silence for a moment before Hal replies. “Thanks, Blondie.”

Dominic’s breath catches in his throat at hearing the nickname. He got so used to Alex saying it, but it feels very different coming out of Hal’s mouth.

“Anytime, Fangboy,” he says with a melancholy smile, earning another small chuckle from Hal.

“Speak soon,” Hal says, and ends the call.

Dominic stands leaning against the wall, only now aware of his racing heart. Shaking himself, he pushes off the wall and slowly makes his way back into the office. Not surprisingly, Tracey perks up as soon as he enters, raising a questioning eyebrow at him.

“You never mentioned you’re back in touch,” she says.

He walks over to his desk and takes a seat, not making eye contact. “I didn’t think it was relevant.”

“Back in touch with who?” Sarah pipes up then. Of course she would. Dominic groans inwardly, eyes fixed on his screen. “Hal?”

“Yep,” Tracey confirms. “Caught him talking to him on the phone just now.”

“Oh, Dom, you should’ve said,” Sarah exclaims. “You guys back together?”

Dominic takes a deep breath. “We… it’s… complicated.”

“Oh dear,” says Tracey. “I hear you. So that’s why you’ve been so resistant to moving on, huh?”

He nods absentmindedly, trying to focus back on his emails.

“How long have you been back in touch?” Sarah asks.

“Couple of weeks,” Dominic answers distractedly.

“Hmm… figures,” Tracey says then, and he looks up at her with a small frown on his face.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” she explains, “that for the last couple of weeks, you’ve been even worse than usual. Don’t think I haven’t noticed.” At his blank expression, she continues, “You come to work looking like you haven’t slept a wink, only keeping yourself awake on ridiculous amounts of tea, and you look like you’ve lost even more weight.” She gives him a thoughtful glance. “This guy really isn’t good for you, Dominic. He did quite a number on you the first time ‘round, we all know that, and now that he’s back in the picture, well…” she drifts off, giving him a significant look.

“I’m fine,” Dominic says defiantly, and he can see out of the corner of his eye that Tracey shares an eye roll with Sarah. He sighs. “Could I please concentrate on my work now? I have got work to do, you know?”

“All right, sorry for being concerned,” Tracey grumbles, but turns back to her own screen.

Dominic finally gets to the bottom of the email he has been reading, pleased to see that their policy has finally been ratified. This project has been eating his soul for the last four months. With a relieved sigh, he closes the email and notices that there are three unread emails in his inbox.

One is the dreaded summer party one that Tracey mentioned to him earlier. Another one tells him that his latest payslip is now available to download.

It is the third email, however, that catches Dominic’s eye. It takes his brain a couple of reads to take in the sender’s name, especially as he didn’t expect to ever receive correspondence from the man again.

After staring at his screen blankly for a long moment, he opens the email from ‘Alistair Frith’ with some trepidation.

_Dear Dominic,_

_I hope you are well, and that you have settled into your new role at Defra._

_I am sure you are surprised to receive this email correspondence, so I would like to assure you that I have a good reason for contacting you. However, for confidentiality reasons, I do not wish to discuss the details of the matter in written form. I am sure you understand._

_I would be grateful if you could meet with me, at my office, this Thursday, 1st August, at 11am. I have taken the liberty of clearing the absence with your line manager._

_Kind regards,_

_The Rt Hon. Alistair Frith FRSL, MP_  
_Home Secretary_

Dominic can physically feel the frown that spreads on his face as he reads through Alistair’s email. What could the Home Secretary possibly want to discuss with him now?

***

Sitting at home that evening, Dominic’s mind is a whirlwind of thoughts, rapidly spiralling between Hal’s unexpected call and Alistair’s even more unexpected email. It feels like just as his life was trying to settle into a new, fragile equilibrium, it is turned upside down again by these recent events.

Dominic lifts his glass to his lips, taking a large sip of whiskey, closing his eyes and focussing on the way it burns and numbs his throat as it goes down. Focussing on the way it slows down his racing thoughts, and makes everything calmer. He is faintly aware that he is probably drinking far too much, especially now that Natasha is gone and Alex is too busy babysitting Hal to really pay him a lot of attention. And Tracey was probably right in her assessment of him.

And she is probably right that he should move on, but how can he do that when every time he closes his eyes he sees Hal’s empty black orbs looking back at him before he sinks his fangs into his throat?

The sound of his phone ringing intrudes into his thoughts, and through the alcohol-induced fog he slowly concludes that he should probably answer it.

“Hello?” he says, without even checking the caller ID. He curses inwardly at how clumsy his tongue feels in his mouth.

“Are you drunk?” Hal asks immediately, and Dominic can almost picture him frowning at him.

“What if I was?” he says flatly, putting his glass down and leaning back on the sofa.

“Then I’d ask you why you are sitting alone at home getting drunk.”

Dominic chuckles. “How do you even know I’m at home? Or that I’m alone?”

Hal replies with a huff. “Because you wouldn’t have picked up the phone to me otherwise. Also, because Alex told me that you pretty much live like a hermit nowadays, except for the occasional night out with your work colleagues. And that you drink too much.”

“I see she is keeping you well informed,” Dominic says, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice. Whose side is she even on?

“She does have her good qualities, few as they may be,” Hal replies darkly, then pauses. After a moment, he continues, voice husky and quiet, “I wish I could taste your blood like this.”

A shiver runs down Dominic’s spine, and he would be lying if he said it’s unpleasant. “Like what?” he asks, but all he gets in reply is another quiet chuckle. “Can you taste the alcohol?” Dominic asks, intrigued despite himself.

“Of course,” Hal replies then, and the longing is so strong, so raw in his voice that it takes Dominic’s breath away.

“We shouldn’t be talking about this, Hal,” Dominic tries to argue, but even to himself he doesn’t sound convincing.

“It's all I can think about,” Hal says hoarsely. “Every waking moment. That thought, it’s… it’s always there. Always with me.”

Dominic lets out a deep sigh. “I know, Hal. I’m sorry.”

Hal doesn’t reply for a long time after this, and Dominic can feel his eyes drifting closed as he sits with his head against the backrest of the sofa, sleep deprivation finally catching up with him. “Oh god, Dominic,” Hal finally says, barely more than a whisper, but enough to jolt Dominic from his dozing state, “I can’t even begin to tell you how much I want to taste your blood right now.”

Dominic, against his better judgement, feels his stomach flutter wildly at the words. “I’d like that too,” he blurts before he can tell his big mouth to shut up.

Hal lets out a tiny groan at his words, and Dominic’s heart speeds up despite the alarm bells going off at the back of his mind. “If only you knew what you are doing to me,” Hal breathes into the phone. “I miss you so much.”

“I miss you too,” Dominic says, squeezing his eyes shut tight as he feels them starting to burn.

“Get me out of here, please, Dominic,” Hal says then, and there is so much pain in his voice, he can barely stand it.

Taking a deep breath, he ignores the voice that screams _yes_ inside his mind and makes himself sound as calm as possible as he replies, “Hal, you know I can’t.”

Hal groans again, but it’s a frustrated sound this time. “This is not the solution, Dominic.”

“It’s the only solution I can think of,” Dominic says with a sigh.

“Is that why you’re so happily moving on with your life rather than sitting at home being self-destructive?”

Hal’s words cut him like a knife. He knows he’s right, but he also knows that there is no alternative. He could not bear seeing Hal go off and kill more people, never mind the other things he does…

“No, Hal,” he says, faintly aware that it’s an answer to his own thought, rather than Hal’s question, but it is the best his brain can come up with at this point. He can once again feel himself doze off. It is only with great effort that he is able to concentrate on Hal’s voice through the speaker.

“You really need to start looking after yourself better,” Hal is saying, and it makes a warm, fuzzy feeling spread in his chest that he hasn’t felt for way too long.

“I can try,” Dominic mumbles, finally giving in to the urge to lie down and spreading out on the sofa. “For you.”

“Please do,” Hal says, sounding far away. “I hate seeing you like this.”

“Y’r not seein’ me,” Dominic manages to get out, and he thinks he can hear the beautiful sound of Hal’s deep, rumbling chuckle, the last thing he hears before he drifts off into a deep restful sleep.

That night, Dominic dreams of hazel eyes and laughter and kisses on the beach, of sex and waking up to the sight of sunlight shining on pale smooth skin. When his phone alarm wakes him early the next morning, he opens his eyes with a smile on his face.

***

Dominic sits on the tube on Thursday morning, a feeling of utter contentment washing over him as he reads the _Poems on the Underground_ poster. He had his second good night’s sleep in a row last night, which makes him feel strangely invincible, even though rationally he knows that it will take him a lot longer to get over the level of sleep deprivation that he put himself through.

It turns out that just talking to Hal makes him not only able to go to sleep and stay asleep, it even keeps the nightmares at bay. Hal called him again last night – Dominic was actually already in bed at the time, which seemed to amuse Hal to no end. That is, until he started lamenting to Dominic about not having slept in a bed for more than two weeks, and that his back is starting to ache, which apparently should not be a thing among vampires.

A smile grows on Dominic’s face at the memory. As much as he feels bad for Hal for the torture he is going through as a result of the withdrawal, his indignant complaint about back pain tickled something in Dominic, who immediately answered with a comment about his age catching up with him. Needless to say, Hal was not amused.

Dominic looks up when _St James’ Park_ is announced by the tinny speaker. It’s time to face the Home Secretary.

On the walk to the Home Office building, Dominic once again mulls over Alistair’s email in his mind. What could he possibly want from him? Defra is a completely separate department to the Home Office, and Special Branch are clearly getting on _just fine_ without his interference.

Dominic stops in his tracks. What if Casselli spoke to him about what happened with Hal? Dominic blanches at the thought that Alistair might be aware of the nature of his relationship with Hal. Not that he is _ashamed_ of Hal as such. He could never be ashamed of who he is in love with. But just like Casselli, he doubts that Alistair would ever understand.

There is no point in pondering the point any further, he thinks as he steps through the doors of the Home Office building.

Walking up to the smiley young blonde woman sitting at reception, he takes a deep breath and states, “I have an appointment with the Home Secretary.”

“And your name, sir?” the woman asks, checking the computer screen in front of her.

“Dominic Rook.”

She looks at the screen for another moment, then says, “Ah, there, Mr Rook, eleven o’clock.”

“That’s right,” Dominic confirms, and gives her a small, somewhat nervous smile.

“That’s all fine, go on up, Mr Rook. I take it you know the way?”

“Yes, thank you,” he replies, an uneasy feeling settling itself in the pit of his stomach as he turns around and takes the lift to the Home Secretary’s office. Once there, he takes a seat outside for a short while, before he is called inside.

The office has not changed since he was last here, is the first thing Dominic notices. Neither has Alistair himself, who is sitting behind his desk, pompous as ever as he gestures for Dominic to take a seat across from him.

“Dominic,” he says. “It’s so good to see you.”

Dominic forces a small smile as he sits down. “And you, Alistair. I hope Titania is well.”

“Very well, thank you. And I hear that your current project with Defra is coming to a satisfactory close?”

“It is indeed,” Dominic confirms.

“Now, I’m sure you are curious as to why I have called you here today,” Alistair continues.

Dominic nods. “I am.”

“Well, you see, Dominic, a matter was brought to my attention by a Detective Inspector Casselli of Special Branch,” Alistair says, eyes boring into Dominic’s, and Dominic can feel his heart speeding up. _This is about Hal_ , an unhelpful little voice at the back of his mind keeps insisting over and over. He does his best to ignore it.

“What kind of matter?” Dominic asks, sounding a lot calmer than he feels.

“You see, that’s what puzzles me, as in all of your emails to me, this is not something you have ever mentioned,” Alistair continues. “It concerns the Devil.”

Dominic can’t help but let out a relieved breath. “I understand.”

Alistair frowns at him. “You do? So you have been aware of the Devil – _the_ Devil – residing in Barry, and you never felt it was important enough to mention it to me?”

Dominic can feel the air sticking in his throat as he tries to answer. He clears his throat and tries again. “I have been aware of a creature that has been rumoured to be the Devil residing at a Barry hotel for some months now,” he explains. “However, the situation was deemed under control for now. The Devil is being closely monitored at all times.”

“By a ‘Type 3’ and a ‘Type 1’, is it?” Alistair says, his frown deepening.

Dominic sighs. “That would be correct, yes.”

“Who are we to refer such an important matter to such… _creatures_ , Dominic?” Alistair barks then, and Dominic flinches at his tone.

“I—” he starts, but Alistair is already talking again.

“DI Casselli also tells me that a ‘Type 2’ used to be involved, but that he has since gone rogue. Is this correct?”

“Well, yes—” Dominic starts, but again, Alistair barely gives him the time to get his answer out.

“And he says that you have quite the… _special_ relationship with said Type 2.”

Dominic can feel his heart skip a beat. His eyes grow wide as he looks back at the Home Secretary. “Come again?” he asks.

“He says that you worked very closely with this Type 2. That you even tried to _recruit_ him to your department at one point?”

Dominic lets out a huge breath of relief. “Yes, that’s correct. I deemed him to be an asset to my department at the time.”

Alistair looks at him thoughtfully. “I didn’t realise that you were recruiting supernaturals, Dominic.”

“I… didn’t, as a matter of course. Only in exceptional circumstances,” Dominic explains.

“And this was one such circumstance?”

Dominic nods. “Yes, it was.”

“Hmm,” Alistair continues, narrowing his eyes at him. “But it now turns out that the Type 2 has turned against you, so perhaps your initial judgement was actually flawed.”

Dominic feels a surge of anger in his gut on behalf of Hal. “He hasn’t so much ‘turned against me’ as followed his natural instincts, Alistair.”

Alistair looks at him for another long moment with narrowed eyes, then shakes himself and says, “Be that as it may, we should get back to the matter at hand. Or the two matters, I should say.” At Dominic’s questioning look, he continues, “DI Casselli tells me that you have been instrumental in finding a particular ritual to deal with the Devil, but that you felt the best plan of action at this point would be to monitor the situation.”

“That’s right,” Dominic says, still not sure where Alistair is going with this.

“Well, Dominic, I feel, and I’m sure DI Casselli would agree with me, that this is a threat that goes beyond the scope that Special Branch is currently able to deal with.”

 _Didn’t I tell you this months ago?_ Dominic asks silently, but knows he can’t possibly say the words out loud. Instead, he asks, “What are you proposing, Alistair?”

Alistair fixes serious eyes on him. “I want you to reopen the Archive, and to monitor the situation from somewhere closer to the actual perpetrator. Close enough to act if you need to.”

Dominic can feel his eyes grow big as saucers. He wants to say something but finds that words are failing him. After everything, he wants him to _reopen the Archive?_ Did he hear this correctly? “I—” he starts, but still has no idea how to continue.

“I know, I know, this must come as quite the shock to you,” Alistair says, as Dominic gives him a disbelieving look. “But the fact is, we have no one – _no one_ – who knows more about these creatures than you do, Dominic. Your input in this situation would be invaluable.”

“I… of course I would… I mean…” Dominic still finds that words are escaping him, but he also notices a small smile spreading across his face.

Alistair wants him to move back to Cardiff, to reopen the Archive. The reality of the proposal is slowly starting to sink in, and it makes him feel more elated than he has done for months.

“Additionally,” Alistair says then, “it will give you an opportunity to keep an eye on the Type 2 that, from what DI Casselli told me, is now also being held in Barry?”

Dominic feels himself nodding, almost on autopilot.

“Very well,” Alistair says, and gives him a small smile.

“All right,” Dominic says. “If that is all, Alistair, I will… prepare for the move.” He slowly rises from the chair, still feeling unreal, like he is in a dream and is going to wake up any moment.

“Just one more thing, Dominic,” Alistair says then, voice deadly serious. Dominic freezes where he stands. “Be careful not to allow yourself to get… attached… to the Type 2. We wouldn’t want your judgement to be compromised, now would we?”

There is an underlying threat in his voice that makes Dominic’s blood run cold.

 _He knows,_ he thinks. _He knows, and he is warning me._

Dominic raises his eyes to meet Alistair’s, and finds they are as deadly serious as his voice. “Do we understand each other?”

“Of course, Alistair,” Dominic breathes, then turns on his heels and almost flees from the office.


	9. Distractions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for reading!
> 
> I had a great time writing this chapter, I hope you enjoy :)

Give me the oversight inside the other  
Primitive over mind designs of ecstasy  
You're reaching into my heart  
And grinding fists in my soul  
Give me the oversight inside the other's dream

\- Interpol, “NYSMAW”

Hal opens his eyes to be greeted by Holly from the stationery shop, who is standing in front of his chair with her arms crossed and a deep frown on her pretty face.

Hal rolls his eyes. “I know you're not real,” he growls at her. “I've been through this shit a thousand times.”

“Yeah? Well, I haven't,” Holly says, narrowing her eyes at him. “I've only died once.”

Hal huffs. “When I met you, you didn't even want to live anymore.”

Holly gives him a disbelieving look. “I don’t know how that could possibly be your call to make.”

“Oh, come on,” says Hal. “You spent most of the evening telling me about how everyone in your life had abandoned you, and how you were all alone in the world now, and that you felt that – let me quote you – you had ‘no purpose in this world anymore’.”

Holly gives him an angry glare. “So you thought you could take it upon yourself to make that decision? Talk about a god complex.”

Hal shakes his head, looking down. “I don’t have to justify myself to you.”

“Hmm, yeah. Seems to me like you don’t think you need to justify yourself to anyone. You’re a law unto yourself, aren’t you, Hal?”

“That’s not what I said.”

She walks forwards until she can rest her hands on the arms of his chair, and she leans in close to him, making him recoil involuntarily. “What did you say then?”

“That I don’t have to talk to you,” Hal says dryly, trying not to let her intimidate him. “You’re not even fucking real.”

Holly lets out a loud huff and pushes herself off the chair, walking towards the door and then turning around. “How do you know I’m not a ghost? There’s one in this house, isn’t there?”

“Oh, please, _Holly_ ,” Hal says with disdain. “I can tell the difference between a ghost and a hallucination.”

“Hmm,” Holly continues, as if she didn’t hear him at all. “I wonder… did you kill her too?”

“Who?” Hal asks before he can stop himself.

She looks at him with narrowed eyes. “The ghost in this house. Alex, is it?”

“No,” Hal says, shaking his head. “That wasn’t me.”

She eyes him for a moment, then gives a small nod. “I suppose that makes sense. Explains why she’s still around.”

Hal snorts. “No. The reason she is still around is to torment me.”

“Not too different from me then,” Holly says with a wolfish smile.

Hal turns his head and stares at the claw marks on the wall, not paying her any more attention. He counts backwards from one hundred in his head, then starts reciting Shakespeare to himself. Still he can sense her presence, leaning against the wall by the door, arms folded and looking at him with a sour expression on her face.

“Go away,” he says tensely. “I’ve had enough of your ‘company’.”

A violent shiver grips him then, and he feels drops of cold sweat drip into his eyelashes.

“Aww, you’re not doing very well, are you, Hal?” Holly says with a fake pout. “It pains me to see you so vulnerable.”

“I’ll show you fucking vulnerable,” he lashes out, and the bitch has the audacity to _laugh_ at him.

Hal growls, clenching his teeth tightly together before he inadvertently gives her even more munition with which to taunt him.

Holly’s eyes, however, leave his face and fall on the phone on his chair, which Hal only realises now is ringing relentlessly. “I think you should answer that.”

Hal frowns at the phone, then back up at Holly. “How do I know this isn't a trick?” he asks, narrowing his eyes at her.

Holly shrugs. “Guess you don't. Could be real, could be a hallucination, could be the men with sticks and rope. Only one way to find out.”

Hal nods jerkily and reaches out his hand to answer the call. “Dominic?” he asks tentatively.

“Hi,” the voice on the other end answers. “Thought I'd check in, since I didn't hear from you last night.” It _sounds_ like Dominic. But you can't be too careful. Looking up, Hal sees that Holly is still standing there, giving him an amused look.

Not taking his eyes off her, Hal heaves a deep breath and asks, “Are you real?”

He can hear Dominic’s breath hitch through the phone line. “Oh, Hal,” he says quietly.

“Is that a yes?” Hal asks, brow furrowing at the phone. He tries to ignore Holly still standing there watching him.

“Yes, Hal, I’m real,” Dominic says calmly. “Are you… are you okay?”

Hal huffs. “Yes, of course, everything’s great. Definitely can’t complain about being alone all the time anymore.” He lifts his eyes back to Holly and gives her a narrow-eyed look. She just smirks back at him.

Dominic sighs. “I’ve heard of this. It’s part of the withdrawal process, isn’t it? Hallucinations?”

“Yes,” Hal bites out. He lets out a frustrated growl. “I feel like I’m losing my mind, Dominic. I can’t do this anymore.”

“Aww, poor baby,” Holly mutters, and Hal glares at her.

“I’m so sorry, Hal,” Dominic says, then, hesitantly, asks, “Are you seeing one right now?”

Hal nods, before realising that Dominic can’t see him. “Yes,” he says. “Fucking cow won’t leave me alone.”

Dominic is silent for a moment, before asking, “Who is it?”

Taking a deep breath, Hal says, “Her name is Holly. She’s… one of the girls I killed.”

Dominic doesn’t respond again for a while, and Hal starts to think that perhaps he shouldn’t have told him this. From what he can remember of the night when he came back to Dominic’s flat after killing those people at the petrol station, it’s something that triggers some kind of irrational jealousy in the man, knowing that he has drunk someone else’s blood.

To his surprise, though, Dominic says, “Tell me about her.”

Hal can see Holly smirking at him out of the corner of his eye. “What do you want to know?”

“Who was she? How did you meet her?”

“She was a shop assistant in a stationery shop,” Hal explains. “I bought something, got talking, asked her out for drinks…”

“And then killed her,” Dominic finishes for him.

“Yes.”

“I see,” he says, voice slightly strangled, and it makes Hal’s dead heart ache.

“Wow, he really cares about you, doesn’t he?” Holly asks, a mixture of awe and disbelief in her voice. “I didn’t realise you like boys too, Hal.”

Hal throws her a dangerous glare. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

“Sorry?” Dominic asks through the speaker.

“Nothing,” Hal replies quickly. “I was replying to something… never mind.”

“I understand,” Dominic says. Then, in an exaggeratedly cheery tone, he continues, “Hey, guess what?”

Hal gives a small chuckle, appreciating his not so subtle attempt at changing the subject. “What?” he asks, playing along.

“I met with the Home Secretary the other day,” Dominic says.

Hal frowns. “That prick that closed down your department?”

“Hal!” Dominic exclaims immediately, and it makes Hal laugh. The movement causes a wave of nausea in his gut, and a cold shiver down his spine. He shudders. After a moment, when Hal doesn’t say anything else, Dominic continues, “Yes, that’s him. It turns out he heard about the Devil, and… about you.”

“What about me?” Hal asks.

“More than I would like,” Dominic says darkly. “But you don’t have to worry about that. Basically,” he continues just as Hal opens his mouth to reply, “he asked me to come back to Cardiff, to reopen the Archive, and to monitor Hatch from there. And you.”

Hal frowns. “What can you possibly do to ‘monitor’ me? You won’t come anywhere near me as long as I’m in here,” he points out.

“I guess he means liaise with Tom and Alex,” Dominic clarifies. “And he doesn’t really know what he’s talking about anyway. But the point is that I’m getting my job back, Hal.”

Hal can feel a small smile break out on his face at hearing Dominic’s enthusiasm. “That’s great news,” he says. In reality, for him, knowing that Dominic is _so close_ and still so far away from him makes the situation even harder to cope with. “Have there been any new developments with Hatch?” he asks, trying to take his mind off the thought of Dominic’s blood. As if it ever works.

“You don’t know yet, do you?” Dominic asks, and Hal frowns.

“Know what?” A fresh wave of nausea washes over him, and he doesn’t think it’s all because of the blood withdrawal this time.

“We found the details of the ritual,” Dominic says, confirming his worst fears.

“You… did?” Hal asks quietly, dread settling into his stomach.

“Yes. Regus was a great help.”

 _Damn Regus,_ Hal thinks. _I’m going to fucking kill him._ What he says out loud is, “Well, if you’re looking for volunteers, I’m not doing it.”

Dominic hesitates a long moment before asking, “How did you manage it, Hal? How did you survive?”

Hal snorts and rolls his eyes. Of course this moment had to come eventually. Taking a deep breath, he says, “I used someone else’s blood.”

He can hear Dominic’s breath catch in his throat. “That’s why the ritual failed,” he whispers, almost to himself. “You cheated.”

“Yes,” Hal confirms indignantly. “Now you know the truth. Not very helpful, is it?”

Dominic sighs. “It is in one respect,” he says fiercely. “Whatever happens with Hatch, I will _never_ allow you to take part in that ritual.”

Hal huffs. “Glad were on the same page.”

Dominic lets out a small laugh at that, and Hal is surprised at the effect his laughter has on him, the little flutter in his stomach that it makes him feel. It's just the other one’s stupid emotions, surely, but… it feels nice all the same.

“Hal?” Dominic asks then, interrupting his thoughts.

“Yes?”

“Is… is she still there? Holly?”

Hal looks up and is amazed to see that the girl has disappeared. He never even noticed her leaving.

He shakes his head. “No. She's gone.”

He can hear Dominic let out a long breath. “In that case… I should probably go,” he says. “I've got a ton of things to do and even more to think about.”

Hal swallows. “Okay.”

“Okay.”

“Hey, Blondie?” he starts, and waits for Dominic to acknowledge before he adds, “Thanks.”

He can hear the smile in Dominic's voice when he replies, “You're welcome.”

***

Alex looks up from the game of Candy Crush she has been playing for the last hour or so as Tom stumbles into the kitchen, signalling that it's time for normal people to be up and about. Sometimes, even a year and a bit after her death, she is amazed at quite how astonishingly boring existence as a ghost can be. Especially during the long, dark nights when there is no one else around.

“Mornin’,” Tom mumbles as he walks over to the counter to put the kettle on and pour himself a bowl of Cheerios.

“Morning, Tom,” she replies and looks back down at her phone, trying to ignore the question that's been going around in her head for most of last night. A moment later, she loses the fight. “Tom?”

“Huh?” he murmurs, carrying his bowl and cup of tea over to the table and sitting down next to her.

She gives him a thoughtful look. “What do you think my unfinished business is?”

Tom groans. “Alex. Not that again.”

“Yeah, it’s not like it’s a pretty important thing for me to figure out, is it?” Alex snaps, narrowing her eyes at him. Tom looks up from his Cheerio bowl with a furrowed brow.

“I dunno, Alex. We’ve talked about this a hundred times, and I still don’t know. What do ya want me to say?”

Alex sighs. “I’m not sure, Tom.” He’s right, of course. She’s not even sure why she has suddenly started thinking about this again. For a while before she was quite happy to just… exist.

“I’m sure it’ll come to ya when the time’s there. That’s what happened with Annie,” Tom says seriously, and she nods. He’s right. No need to get all surly over it.

“I should take Hal his breakfast,” she announces, and gets up to fill another bowl with Cheerios. Hal hates them, but it’s the only breakfast food they’ve got in the house, and to be honest, Hal hates all food at the moment regardless.

Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Tom nod, “Yeah, good luck. I’ll be off to the hotel in a minute.”

A small smile spreads on Alex’s lips. “You mean you’re going to see Natasha.”

He looks at her innocently. “No, actually, I’m going to go to work.” She lifts an eyebrow at him. “But Tasha’s gonna be there too,” he concedes, a little sheepishly, and she laughs.

“Tell her I said hi.”

“Will do,” Tom says as she picks up the bowl from the counter and makes her way towards the cellar.

She frowns as she stands in front of the closed door, wondering why on Earth she actually physically walked down here when she has to rent-a-ghost inside anyway. Just at that moment, she picks up a sound from inside the locked room.

“You too,” Hal is saying in a voice that painfully reminds her of her old friend. It breaks her heart a little bit, when she thinks about how much she misses the old Hal, and not for the first time she wonders whether she is ever going to see him again.

Closing her eyes, she rent-a-ghosts inside, and when she opens them, she can see Hal hastily pressing a button on his phone before glaring up at her.

“Alex,” he says, and all the coldness and hostility is back in his voice.

“Who were you talking to?” she asks.

“No one,” he says, then, when she gives him an expectant look, adds, “A hallucination.”

Alex raises her eyebrows. “A what?”

“A hallucination, Alex. Look it up in a dictionary if you don’t know the meaning of the word,” he says with a huff and a roll of his eyes. Arrogant bastard.

Taking a deep breath to help her keep calm, she says, “I know what ‘hallucination’ means, Hal. I just wasn’t aware that you’re getting them.”

“Yes,” he drawls. “It’s all part of the… withdrawal process.”

Alex frowns at the phone that is attached to the arm rest, next to Hal’s right hand. “So your hallucination called you on the phone?” she asks suspiciously.

He lets out a short, humourless laugh. “Just come out with it Alex. You already know the answer, and I’m not in the mood to play your games.”

She narrows her eyes at him. “You’ve been talking to Dominic.”

He doesn’t even actually answer, just gives her a smug look, and she has to fight the urge to punch him in the face.

“I thought we had an agreement about that, Hal,” she says seriously.

“What? That I’m not allowed to talk to my boyfriend?” he asks mock-innocently.

“Yes, Hal, exactly that,” she snaps.

Still in that mock-innocent tone, he adds, “Well, he called me, actually.”

This gives her pause. She looks at him for a moment, mulling that information over in her mind. Would Dominic…? As much as Alex wants to tell herself that no, he would be too sensible for that, he wouldn’t be so completely and utterly stupid, she also knows that when it comes to Hal, Dominic is anything but rational at the best of times.

“In that case,” she says finally, “Maybe I’m talking to the wrong person.” Looking down at the bowl of cereal in her hand, she asks, “You hungry?”

Hal shakes his head. “No.”

“Well, then, if you’ll excuse me,” she says, and a moment later finds herself standing in the middle of Dominic’s living room. Looking around herself, her eyes widen as she takes in the complete and utter chaos she finds herself in. “What the hell?” she asks into the room at large.

Dominic, who had been crouching in the corner next to the sofa, pulling stacks of papers out of a drawer, jumps to his feet at her voice, eyes wide as his head whirls around in her direction. “Alex?” he asks.

“Sorry, should’ve knocked,” she says sheepishly, then, with another look around the room adds, “What are you doing, Dominic?”

“Packing,” he says, putting the stack of papers he is holding down into a cardboard box on the floor. Then his eyes fix on something, and he frowns. “Are you bringing me breakfast?”

“What?” she asks, before she remembers the bowl of Cheerios that she is still holding. “Oh, this? Yeah, have it if you want. It was Hal’s.”

Dominic’s expression changes to one of concern. “He’s still not eating?” he asks.

“Nope,” she says. “So, do you want it?”

He shakes his head. “No, thanks. I”ve already had breakfast.”

She places the bowl down on the coffee table. “So, what’s all this about, then?” she asks. “Are you moving?”

He nods. “Yes. I’m… moving back to Cardiff, as a matter of fact,” he says, and a small smile plays on his face at the words.

“Seriously?” Alex asks. “What about your job?”

“That’s the best bit,” he says, and his smile grows. “I’ve been asked to reopen the Archive.”

“No way,” Alex breathes.

“Oh yes,” Dominic confirms. Alex realises she has never seen him this excited. “Home Secretary got wind of Hatch and panicked. And lo and behold, I’ve got my old job back. If I’d known that worked I would’ve tried it months ago.” He pauses, looking in her direction, and his brow furrows. “But you’re here for a reason, aren’t you?” he asks.

Alex takes a deep breath. Here goes. “I just spoke to Hal, and he told me… he told me you’ve been talking to him? On the phone?”

Dominic sighs deeply. “Yes, Alex, I’ve been talking to him,” he says. “Are you here to lecture me? Because actually, I feel that our conversations have been very helpful.”

“Helpful for you, or for him?”

He averts his eyes, and she can see his Adam’s apple rise and fall rapidly. “For both of us.”

Alex ponders this for a moment. It certainly seems like Dominic is in much better spirits than she has seen him for a long time, and even Hal had a little less bite to him this morning. Pun fully intended. Which, given Hal’s demeanour towards her recently, doesn’t really mean all that much. “I’m surprised you’re getting anything out of it,” she says, voicing her thoughts. “I honestly can’t wait to get out of that room every time. He just makes my skin crawl.”

He looks back up at her, brow furrowed. “I know, you’ve said that. But he’s been… nice to me, actually.”

Alex frowns. “Has it ever occurred to you that the reason he's nice to you is because you've got something he wants?” she asks.

He doesn’t answer for a long moment, and she can see a slight blush creep into his cheeks as he clearly thinks about the implications of what she has said. When he does reply, his voice is so quiet she can barely hear it. “Yes,” he says. “Of course it has.”

“But you don’t care,” she states.

He looks at her pensively. “Not so much ‘don’t care’ as ‘can’t change’, I suppose. I… accept that that is an important part of how he sees me, particularly with what he is going through at the moment. I just… I have to believe that he is still in there somewhere, and that one day… he will come back to me.”

Alex takes a deep breath, looking for the best way to say what is going through her mind. What she finally settles on is, “You know that he will be very different, right?”

“What do you mean?” he asks.

“Hal, when he’s properly clean… he’s different. I don’t really know how to explain it, but I realised that you’ve never known him like that. I just want you to be prepared, that’s all.”

He looks straight at her then, and she can clearly see the heartbreak in his eyes. “It is what has to be done,” he says with a small smile that doesn’t reach his eyes.

***

Dominic closes the last box with a relieved sigh and makes his way through to the kitchen to have a much deserved cup of tea. Two days of emptying cupboards and packing boxes have left him in a state of exhaustion. The last light of the day bathes the room in a warm, orange glow, and Dominic can feel the warmth of it on his skin. He can feel a slight itch on his wrist where his skin is healing, and he looks down to see the two small marks, one almost completely healed, the other a dark purple.

Since he all but promised Hal to take better care of himself, he has made a conscious effort not to engage in those… behaviours anymore, but he would be lying if he said it has been easy. There is an urge inside of him that he can barely control, that compels him to go and drive that blade into his skin again. Dominic frowns as he pours the boiling water into his waiting mug. He really has a difficult time understanding himself nowadays.

Sitting down at the kitchen island, he pulls out his phone and brings up his favourites, hand hovering over Hal’s name for a long moment, when the feeling of the phone vibrating in his hand signals an incoming call.

A smile spreads on his lips when he sees the caller ID. Great minds…

“Hey,” he answers quickly, eager to hear Hal’s voice.

“Dominic,” Hal says, and Dominic sighs as he hears the tension in his voice.

“Are you okay?”

Hal snorts. “No.”

“Another hallucination?” Dominic asks.

“Yes,” Hal confirms, and his voice goes very quiet when he continues, “Can you… talk to me? Take my mind off it, like you did last time?”

“Of course,” Dominic says, then frowns. “What do you want me to talk about?”

“I don’t know,” Hal says. “What have you been up to today?”

“Packed up my stuff, ready to move back to Cardiff in a couple of days,” Dominic says.

“I bet you can’t wait to come back,” Hal replies, and Dominic smiles.

“Yes. It’s been too long.”

“It certainly has,” Hal says then, and Dominic realises he is not talking about his move to Cardiff anymore. “I miss you,” he adds.

Dominic can feel his chest tighten. He is about to reply when his conversation with Alex the other day pops into his head.

_Has it ever occurred to you that the reason he's nice to you is because you've got something he wants?_

“Hal, can I ask you something?”

“Of course,” Hal answers at once, his voice so sincere that Dominic wants to innerly berate himself for ever doubting his motives in the first place. Then again, he has to be sure…

He takes a deep breath and asks, “When you say you miss me… do you actually mean me, or just my blood?”

Hal is silent for a long moment. Too long, Dominic thinks, as he sits and waits with bated breath. Eventually, Hal says, “Dominic… you don’t want to ask me that question right now.”

Dominic feels like an invisible hand is tightening around his heart at the implication of that statement. _But it's just the bloodlust talking, isn't it?_ He tries to tell himself desperately. Of course, it is all-consuming, he knows that. But that doesn’t make it hurt any less.

“You're right,” he says quietly. “I'm sorry, Hal.”

There is silence again for a long time, but it’s not as heavy as before. “What about you?” Hal asks finally, and Dominic's brow furrows.

“What do you mean?”

Hal chuckles quietly and asks, “Do you miss me?”

Dominic swallows. “Yes, Hal,” he says with conviction. “Yes, of course I do.”

“Yes?” Hal asks, and there is a hint of teasing in his voice now that puts a smile on Dominic’s face.

“Yes,” he says again. He closes his eyes, tries to picture Hal’s face in front of him. “God, how much I wish you were here with me now, rather than all the way over there in Barry.”

“Tied up in a cellar,” Hal adds, deadpan.

Dominic barks out a laugh. “Yes, that too.”

Hal is silent for a moment, hesitating, then, “If I were there with you right now, what would you do?”

Dominic can feel the smile on his face grow at the question. “I suppose I’d offer you a cup of tea, seeing as I’m just having one,” he says, lifting said tea cup to his lips and having a sip.

Hal lets out a quiet laugh. “So civilised,” he says, and for some reason, it makes Dominic blush. “So you’re in the kitchen right now?” Hal asks then.

“Yes,” Dominic confirms. “I’m sitting at the table.”

“What are you wearing?”

Dominic almost chokes on his tea, then breaks out in a completely undignified fit of giggles. “Chinos and a t-shirt,” he answers, trying to sound serious and failing disastrously.

He can hear the smile in Hal’s voice when he asks, “What colour is your t-shirt?”

“Blue,” Dominic says, and Hal lets out an appreciative hum.

“I like it when you wear blue. It makes your eyes pop.”

 _You sound like Natasha,_ Dominic thinks, but he feels a new wave of heat rise into his cheeks nonetheless. “Yeah?” he asks.

“Mmmh,” is all the reply he gets from Hal. After a short while, he adds, “Just trying to picture you like that. Okay, so once we’ve both finished our tea, what would you do then?”

Dominic shakes his head, thinking, _Are we really doing this?_

Then he throws caution to the wind and says, “I’d get up, walk around the table so I’d stand in front of you,”

“Am I sitting down?” Hal asks.

“Yes,” Dominic confirms, and closes his eyes again, trying to picture the scene. “You’re sitting on a bar stool, it makes it just the right height for me to come and stand in front of you. I bring my hands up and run my fingers through your hair, it feels so soft between my fingers. Then I lean in and kiss you. I can taste the tea on your lips.”

“Dominic,” Hal says, sounding slightly strangled. “Please, keep going.”

“Can you feel it, Hal?” Dominic asks. “Can you feel my lips against yours?”

“Yes,” he says, voice almost a whisper. “So soft, and so warm.”

“Yes,” Dominic says, swallowing compulsively. He can feel it too, and it makes his heart ache with longing. “Tell me what happens next, Hal.”

“I place my hand on your chest so I can feel your heart beat beneath my fingers,” Hal rasps. “Such a steady rhythm, so beautiful.” Dominic’s heart speeds up at the words. “And I take a deep breath in so I can smell you. We’re so close that your smell is all around me, it’s intoxicating… I move my mouth down to your neck and just hover there, and I can feel goose bumps rising on your skin.”

Dominic feels a very real shiver run down his spine. “I can feel them too,” he says, not surprised at the way his voice is breaking when he speaks. “And then I can feel you leaning in closer, and your lips make contact with my skin, and then your teeth…”

Hal moans on the other end. “Dominic,” he whimpers. “Do you… have any idea… you’re…”

“What, Hal?” he asks breathily, adjusting the way he sits on the stool as he feels his trousers growing tight.

Hal chokes out something halfway between a laugh and a gasp. “You’re… getting me excited,” he says, another strangled laugh escaping his mouth. “And my hands are tied.”

Dominic finds himself powerless to control the fit of laughter that bursts out of him. He wants to sympathise with Hal’s predicament, he really does, but he just can’t stop laughing.

“Dominic,” Hal says indignantly.

“I’m… sorry, Hal,” Dominic manages to get out. “But you started it. Just don’t let Alex catch you like that.”

Hal groans, then lets out another, smaller laugh. “Now there’s a picture I really didn’t need in my head.” After a short pause, he adds, “At least tell me you’re getting hard too?”

Dominic nods emphatically, then realises Hal can’t actually see him, so he says, “Yes.”

“The difference is that you can do something about it,” Hal breathes, and a pleasant tingle runs down Dominic’s spine and straight into his groin. He can feel his trousers growing ever tighter, and he hasn’t so much as touched himself.

“That’s true,” he says. “I’d rather it was you, though.”

Hal chuckles. “Yeah?”

“Mmmh,” Dominic hums.

“Tell me more,” Hal says, his voice deep and seductive. “What would you like me to do?”

Dominic can’t stop the moan that escapes his mouth. He switches his phone from his right hand into his left as his right hand wanders down and he lightly rubs it over the sizeable bulge in his trousers. “I’d like… I’d…” _Why is it so bloody hard to say it?_ He thinks, frustrated.

“Say it,” Hal encourages.

Dominic takes a deep breath, squeezes his eyes shut, tries to imagine… “I’d like your mouth on me,” he all but whispers into the phone. His hand fumbles to open the button and zip on his chinos, and he reaches inside, pulls down the elastic of his boxers until he can wrap his fingers around his erection.

“Hmm, yes, I suppose I could do that,” Hal says as if he is talking about the weather. Dominic lets out a quiet moan. “God, your obsessed with my mouth, aren’t you?” Hal adds in a teasing tone.

“Maybe…” Dominic says, voice barely obeying him as his hand speeds up on his hard length. “A bit…”

“Mmmh, you’re getting closer, aren’t you?” Hal breathes. “Are you touching yourself?”

Dominic replies with another, louder moan, and Hal answers it with one of his own. “Shit, I wish I could see you right now. Sitting there, hand wrapped around your cock, eyes closed and visualising me sucking you off.”

Dominic can’t believe how much of a turn on it is to hear Hal say those filthy words, and he lets out a loud groan, tightens his grip on his erection, and within much too short a time, feels himself get close to the edge.

“Mmmh, Hal,” he croaks. “I’m…”

“Yes,” Hal says, sounding slightly breathless himself. “Go on, Dominic. Come for me. Imagine my lips around your cock, sucking you off, and you shoot your load straight into my mouth.”

Hal’s words are enough to get him over the edge, and with another broken moan of “Hal” he spills all over his hand. He leans forward with his elbow on the table, catching his breath for what feels like several minutes.

“Well, I hope that was enjoyable,” Hal says conversationally, and Dominic can’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of what they have just done. Then he remembers something Hal mentioned earlier.

“What about you?” he asks, brow furrowing.

Hal doesn’t answer immediately, and his voice is strangely reserved when he finally says, “Don’t worry about me.”

“Hal?” Dominic asks, his frown deepening.

“It’s… probably best if I don’t,” Hal says. There is a strange undertone in his voice that Dominic isn’t sure how to place. A moment later, he adds, “Would be kinda hard to explain to Alex when she next comes in. And hey, have you ever even tried coming untouched?”

“I can’t say I have,” Dominic admits. “Perhaps… don’t you think… couldn’t Tom and Alex untie you? You’d still be locked in the cellar, wouldn’t you?”

Hal barks out a laugh. “Yes, that would certainly be an improvement. Even sleeping on the floor would be better than sitting in this bloody chair twenty-four seven. Maybe you can put in a good word for me?”

Dominic nods. “Yes, I can definitely do that.” Then it dawns on him that he is sitting at the kitchen island with his trousers open and covered in come. Another fit of laughter overcomes him and he blushes furiously as he says, “Hal, I should probably get cleaned up.”

“You do that,” Hal says, joining in his laughter.

“All right,” he says and stands up from the bar stool he has been sitting on. “And Hal?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

Hal’s voice is warm and gentle when he replies, “No, thank _you_. I… I love you.”

Dominic feels his throat close up at the same time as his stomach flutters wildly, and he knows in that moment that there is hope for them yet. There always will be.

“I love you too.”


	10. Coming Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, guys, thank you so much for the positive response to Chapter 9! It honestly made my day :)
> 
> ...And then this happened. Let's just say that this chapter did not behave in the way it was supposed to. I had a plan, a character said something, Dominic jumped on it, we had a long discussion in my head, and of course in the end Dominic got his stubborn, irrational way, as always. So this is the result.
> 
> EDIT: I made some (very small) changes to the cellar scene, as it was quite literally giving me sleepless nights. There's me and my stupid insecurities lol.

Your secret's safe here  
It'll never leave  
It's in the basement for ya

\- Interpol, “Number 10”

Dominic turns the key and pulls open the heavy steel door, rusty and creaky with non-use, and the whole scene feels more than a little unreal to him. He flicks the still familiar light switch on the wall next to the door, and the overhead lighting comes on. As of Wednesday, 7th August, the electricity to the property at CF64 8AS has been restored, British Gas informed him a couple of days ago, and the email put a huge smile on his face. 

_This is really happening,_ Dominic thinks, and, hearing his steps echo against the empty concrete walls as he walks down the corridor, he feels like coming home. 

He walks past the Type 3 containment area, and a melancholy smile plays on his lips as he remembers Bobby, all wide eyes and fidgety hands as he looked at Dominic and anxiously asked, _“This werewolf… is he nice?”_

The next moment, a sharp stab hits him square in the chest as he hears that same voice in his head, calling, _“Help, please! Hello? Hello, the door’s shut on me, you gotta let me out!”,_ shortly followed by Bobby’s agonised screams as the transformation kicked in.

 _It was Hatch,_ a voice at the back of his mind insists. _Hatch made you do it. He controlled you. It wasn’t your fault._

Dominic heaves a deep sigh, mutters, “I’m sorry, Bobby,” and walks on, away from the closed door. He only stops again when he reaches the grey steel door labelled ‘111’. For some reason that eludes Dominic, his throat constricts as he reaches out and pushes down the door handle, revealing the large room full of empty shelves that lies beyond. He has sent a request to Scotland Yard to have the majority of the files sent back to the Archive, but as is the way with British bureaucracy, the wheels are turning very slowly, and it will probably take another few weeks for everything to arrive back.

Dominic runs his hand along the empty metal shelves as he walks along the vast room, and his eyes fall on the desk at the end. A lump forms in his throat and he swallows compulsively to get rid of it as another flashback takes hold of him.

_“We don’t have leftover stock, but I can offer you something else.”_

_“You can’t be serious.”_

_“I am.”_

If he knew then what his proposal would lead to, this far down the line, he is not sure he would ever have taken that step. Then again, Dominic thinks, deep down, despite everything that happened, he wouldn’t want to miss a single moment of what he has shared with Hal. 

_Even the part where he assaulted and practically killed you?_ That pesky voice at the back of his mind speaks up. He shakes off the thought and focuses back on the present instead.

Taking a pensive look a the empty desk, Dominic takes a few hesitant steps forward until he stands behind it, and he lets himself sink down into the chair, almost in slow motion. He straightens his grey suit and lets his eyes wander over the familiar surroundings. A small chuckle escapes him as memories of a superglued phone, a sabotaged chair and the overwhelming stench of fish flood his mind. He shakes his head with an exasperated smile. Oh, Alex.

Dominic runs his hands over the drawers on his desk, and he opens the topmost drawer, which at one point used to hold a cross, a stake, and a small notebook. Dominic opens his bag, pulls out the same, black, leather-bound notebook, and opens it to the first page. There, clipped to the leather cover with a paperclip, is the picture of Hal that he took from his file. Dominic reaches out a runs his index finger over the picture, trying to imagine Hal’s smooth, pale, perfect skin under his fingertips. 

Dominic sighs deeply. He has been talking to Hal on the phone nearly every day for the past week and a half, but it’s just not enough. His heart aches to see him again in person, to actually be able to touch him, to see those eyes looking back at him… but he knows it’s too early. Hal is not ready. It may still be a while before he can safely be around humans again. Dominic suddenly feels an irrational surge of jealousy towards Alex, or even Tom, who can see Hal whenever they want without consequences.

His thoughts are cut short by a voice drifting over from the door at the other end of the room. “Hello? Hello? Am I in the right place?” a male voice calls. Dominic frowns. He wasn’t expecting anyone. Then, the man asks, “Mr Rook?”

Frown still in place and flipping the notebook firmly shut, Dominic answers, “Yes? Who is this?”

A young man with short, dark hair, dark brown eyes and a short beard walks towards him. He is wearing a grey suit, Dominic notices. The young man throws nervous glances around him at the empty shelves before his eyes finally land on Dominic, who remains seated at his desk.

“Ah, Mr Rook, I presume?” he asks, and holds out his hand. Dominic shakes it, the frown still never leaving his face.

“That’s right. And you are?”

“Detective Constable Adrian O’Brien, Special Branch,” the man introduces himself. “Detective Inspector Casselli sent me to—” _Keep an eye on me,_ Dominic finishes silently, bristling, “—assist you.” He gives Dominic a pleasant smile. “You can call me Adrian.”

“Nice to meet you, Adrian,” Dominic says with a big, fake smile. This was never part of the deal. Alistair asked _him_ to reopen the Archive, in his eyes that also means that _he_ should be selecting his own team. Then again, the way things stand, Dominic muses, he can still count himself lucky if all they give him is one constable. The man looks not a day older than twenty-five. Dominic is sure he will be able to shape him into doing things his way.

“So this is the famous DoDD Archive?” Adrian asks, looking around himself.

Dominic lifts his eyebrows. “Well, this is what is left of it after everything was taken away to London. I hope the files should arrive back any day now.” He stands up from his desk and walks around to where Adrian is standing. “Now, why don’t I show you around the rest of the building?” he says with a smile. Might as well try and get the man on side as soon as possible.

“Yes, thank you sir, that would be helpful.”

Dominic starts walking, through the open steel door and out into the corridor, back towards the werewolf containment area. He stops at the door and turns around to Adrian. “This—” he points to the door, “—is where we would contain Type 3s,” he explains. 

“Which ones are Type 3s again?” Adrian asks, brow furrowed in thought. “Vampires?”

Dominic sighs. “Werewolves.”

“Ah, right. Sorry.”

Dominic pushes the door open and walks inside, then opens the door to Bobby’s room. The football posters are still plastered all over the wall, and Dominic feels another small stab in his heart at the sight. Ignoring it as best he can, he points out the cage to Adrian, says, “Electronic locks, fully automatic. There is no way any Type 3 can escape one of these in their transformed state.”

“Why do you lock them up?” Adrian asks, and Dominic turns around to him with a frown.

“Because they are a danger to themselves and others if they are left unconfined, Adrian.”

“Hmm,” Adrian answers, but Dominic gets the feeling that there is more to his original question. He chooses to ignore it for now and makes his way back out into the corridor. 

He points out the interview rooms to Adrian, saying, “These are all fitted with CCTV. Of course, Type 1s and Type 2s can’t be captured on camera, but it can still prove useful.”

An image of Ian Cram’s panicked face flashes before his eyes for a split second, and he shudders. It is only now that he fully understands the sheer terror that the vampire must have gone through upon seeing his family, in those last few agonising moments before the bloodlust took over. 

“Everything all right, Mr Rook?” Adrian asks.

Dominic gives him another big, fake smile and says, “Yes, everything’s fine. Let’s continue, shall we?”

Adrian follows him further along the corridor, down a flight of stairs, and through another heavy steel door. Dominic turns around to the other man. 

“These cells,” he points out, “are where we hold Type 2s.”

Adrian frowns. “But they’re empty.”

“Yes,” Dominic replies, and it sounds half like a question. “We haven’t captured any Type 2s yet.”

“So where is SJ031?” Adrian asks, and Dominic’s stomach lurches.

“He’s… held elsewhere,” he explains tensely.

Adrian’s frown intensifies. “Are you sure that’s safe, Mr Rook? I mean no disrespect,” he adds quickly, “I know that you are the leading expert in this field. I just think… if we have this facility available to us, why is a highly dangerous Type 2 not in here?”

 _Because I could never bear seeing Hal in one of these horrible cells,_ Dominic thinks. What he says out loud is, “He is safe where he is, and it would actually be more dangerous to transport him now.” He chances a look at Adrian, who doesn’t look entirely convinced.

“It says in his file that you… utilised a Type 1 to capture him,” he says.

Dominic nods. “That’s right. But I still don’t think that it would be wise to move… SJ031 at this time.”

“Why not, sir?” Adrian asks, and it sounds like a genuine question.

Dominic sighs. “He is currently going through blood withdrawal,” he explains. “It makes him very volatile and highly dangerous, especially around humans. That is why I decided to have him looked after by a Type 1 for the time being.”

Adrian gives him a long, thoughtful look, and Dominic doesn’t like it one bit. Eventually, he says, “If you don’t mind me asking, sir… if he is so dangerous, why don’t we just terminate him?”

Dominic feels the bottom drop out of his stomach. He opens his mouth and finds that no words are coming out. _Get yourself together,_ he chides himself. _You can’t afford to lose it like this in front of an employee._

He clears his throat, but his voice still sounds hoarse when he says, “That’s not how we operate.”

“But with all due respect, sir,” Adrian presses on, “these are monsters. Why do we even bother keeping them in cells? Why don’t we just eradicate them? The records show that you even used to run a programme of supplying bottled blood to Type 2s.” His face contorts into an ugly grimace. “I mean, why would you do that?”

Dominic takes a deep breath, trying desperately to keep calm. “Controlled supply of blood has been shown to be more effective in keeping Type 2s safe, compared to complete abstinence,” he explains. _Yes, remember that? Good to know that you’re keeping to your own principles._ He ignores the voice and continues, “And it has never been our aim to completely… eradicate…” The word tastes bitter on his tongue, “… Type 2s. It is to ensure that they are safe and not harming any humans. The same is true of Type 3s, and Type 1s.”

“But why—” Adrian starts again. Dominic is beginning to lose his patience.

“As I said, Detective Constable O’Brien,” he bellows. “That’s not how we operate. You want to work in my department, you work by my rules, understood?” He knows he is walking a dangerous path, but the very real threat of this upstart trying to kill Hal more than justifies it in his mind.

“Understood, sir,” Adrian says, somewhat meekly. “Sorry, sir.”

“All right,” Dominic says, slightly calmer, and starts walking towards the door, out of the Type 2 cell block. They climb the stairs back to the upper level in silence, and Dominic makes his way back into Room 111 and over to his desk. Once there, he turns around towards Adrian and asks, “Do you have any more questions at the moment, Adrian?”

“Yes, sir,” Adrian says at once. “Regarding SJ031…” he pauses, and Dominic tenses, thinking, _Here we go again._ That is until Adrian continues, “Has anyone been to… check on him?”

Dominic frowns, even as his stomach does a somersault. “I’m not sure I get your meaning,” he says carefully. Could Adrian be suggesting…?

“I just thought, if the Type 1 took him to wherever he is held, and all you’ve got to go on is the Type 1’s reports… you can’t possibly be actually sure that he is safely contained, can you? I feel that one of us should go and check that everything is in order, that’s all.”

“You’re absolutely right,” Dominic says before his brain actually has a real chance to catch up. “I will go and pay him a visit.”

***

Dominic sits in his car, nervously tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. He has been sitting here, outside 8 Coastview Road, for the last half hour, unable to move, unable to do anything but stare straight ahead of him, down the quiet road. Suddenly, this whole thing starts to seem like a terrible idea.

Shaking himself out of his stupor, he pulls his phone from his pocket and dials the number for _Honolulu Heights._

“Hello?” a male voice answers.

“Tom?” Dominic says, and his voice breaks on the single syllable. Can he really do this?

“Yeah. Who’s there?” Tom answers suspiciously.

Dominic takes a deep breath. “It’s Dominic Rook,” he says slowly.

He can hear Tom’s frown in his voice when he asks, “Why ya callin’?”

Dominic swallows, then says, “I’m sitting in my car outside your house. I was going to ask you to make sure that Hal is safe before I come in.”

“Wha’?” Tom asks, shocked. “What do ya mean, come in? You can’t come in here.”

Dominic looks to his right, where he can see the blinds move on the large bay window. He bites his lip. “I felt that it was time for me to… inspect… the cellar. It is my professional duty to ensure—”

“Oh, spare me your crap,” Tom says. “I know why you’re here. And it’s none of my business, really, if you wanna put yourself at risk like that. But it’s my responsibility to look after Hal, and if he sees ya, it’s gonna set him back _weeks_.”

Dominic swallows again. He has been expecting that answer. “Are you really sure about that?” he asks. “How can you possibly know how far along Hal is in his recovery if you don’t let him come into contact with humans?”

“Who’s that?” Dominic hears another, quieter voice come through the receiver. Alex, he realises. 

“It’s Rook,” Tom answers. “He’s here.”

“What do you mean, he’s here?” Alex says, and barely a heartbeat later, he can hear her voice right next to his ear, from the direction of the passenger seat. “What the hell are you doing here?” 

He clears his throat and says, “I’m here to see Hal.”

Alex barks out a laugh. “You’re not serious.”

He looks in her direction, his face sincere. “I’m serious.”

He can hear Alex let out an exasperated sigh. “Dominic, listen. I know you miss him, okay? I get that. But this… this is insane.”

Dominic huffs. “This whole fucking thing is insane, Alex. Locking up a vampire in your basement is insane.” He looks down at his hands. “All I know is that I need to see him, okay? He’s tied up, isn’t he?” Dominic realises with a pang that he still hasn’t made good on his promise to speak to Tom and Alex about untying Hal. But that is something that can wait until after his visit.

“Yes, he is,” Alex confirms.

“Then there shouldn’t be any reason that I can’t go and speak to him,” Dominic says. “And like I just said to Tom, how can you know if he’s getting better if he’s completely cut off from all human contact down there?”

He hears Alex sigh again. “Even if you’re right, and we need to… I don’t know, test him with a human or whatever… I don’t think you’re the right one to do it,” Alex points out.

Dominic clenches his jaw. “Why is that?”

“Because he’s fucking crazy about you? I mean, come on, Dominic, have you left your brain behind in London or something? How about we send in… I don’t know… Natasha instead?”

Dominic freezes. “What?”

“Tom could ask Natasha to come over from the hotel. She and Hal seemed to get on all right in the end, didn’t they? He might be less inclined to hurt her—”

“Tasha’s here?” Dominic asks, as if in a daze.

“Yes, she’s staying at the hotel,” Alex confirms. “I thought you knew.”

Dominic’s eyes widen. “She’s staying at the hotel? With Hatch?”

“Yes,” Alex says again. “Well, not _with_ Hatch… urgh, that’s a disturbing thought. But hold on, you didn’t know?”

Dominic swallows painfully and shakes his head. “No, I didn’t know. She just stormed off, I had no idea where she’d gone.” After a short pause, he adds, “Well, I’m glad she’s safe. Or, well, as safe as she can be staying at that hotel.”

“She’s started working there again as well, from what I hear, although Tom did say that she’s been acting kinda strange.”

Dominic’s brow furrows. “Strange how?”

“I don’t know, like she’s constantly on edge, snappy with customers, clumsy, moody. That kind of thing.”

Dominic mulls that information over in his head, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense to him. “Maybe she’s anxious about being around Hatch?” he suggests, but it’s not a very convincing argument even to his own ears.

“Maybe,” Alex replies. “But anyway, we’re getting way off topic here. I still don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go in there.”

Dominic takes a deep breath. “Quite frankly, Alex, I don’t care what you think.”

With that, he opens the driver door and climbs out of the car. He can feel Alex materialise next to him, and she follows him up the path to the house. 

“Dominic, wait,” she calls after him. “At least let me check in with him first.”

Dominic comes to a stop in front of the front door. Taking a deep breath, he says, “Okay. But don’t take too long.”

“Yeah, no worries. I don’t normally spend a lot of time down there.”

Dominic watches as the door opens in front of him, and he steps through after Alex.

“Tom?” Alex calls into the living room, and a moment later, Tom comes walking towards them. “Do me a favour and look after him while I check on Hal,” Alex says, and Tom scowls at Dominic.

“All right then, come through,” he says and gestures towards the living room.

It feels surreal, being back here, Dominic thinks as his eyes wander over the mismatched furniture and the ghastly seventies wallpaper. He walks over to the cream corner sofa and takes a seat. Tom sits down across from him, never taking his eyes off him.

After a minute of awkward silence, Dominic clears his throat and says, “Listen, Tom. I know that you and I have had our differences. But I feel that… I think that we should leave that behind us, don’t you agree?”

Tom looks at him with furrowed brows. “What’s brought this on?”

Dominic sighs deeply. “Natasha,” he says.

Tom’s eyes widen. “What about Natasha?”

“She’s—” Dominic starts, then pauses. “She’s been through a lot. And she’s decided to come to you, because she obviously really cares about you.” He looks straight into Tom’s eyes. “She deserves to be happy, Tom, and if you’re the person that makes her happy, then I don’t want either of you to think that I stand in the way of that.”

Tom’s frown lifts slightly from his face. “Yeah, well, if ya put it like that. I really care about her too.”

“I know, Tom,” Dominic says with a small smile. 

“I’m gonna take good care of her,” Tom says, and Dominic’s smile grows. 

“I’m glad to hear it.” Then his eyes narrow, and he adds, “But if I ever hear that you’ve done anything at all to hurt her, I will kill you, just so you know.”

Tom gives him a long, thoughtful look, then says, “Right back at ya, Mr Rook.”

“Dominic,” he says with a small chuckle at the fierce expression on Tom’s face.

At that moment, Dominic feels a slight whoosh in the air, and he can hear Alex voice to his left. “Dominic?”

“Yes?” he asks, and his breath catches in his throat.

“He’s ready.”

***

Hal is halfway through a recitation of Milton’s _Paradise Lost,_ trying desperately to ignore the violent chills and tremors that are gripping his body and steering his thoughts away from large, pulsing veins under pale skin filled with delicious, sweet red liquid, when something unexpected happens.

The heavy door in front of him, which has stayed closed for the last… oh, it must be coming up to four weeks now, but Hal can’t say for sure, slowly opens. He can see Alex standing in the doorway, giving him a thoughtful look, but what grips Hal’s attention more than anything in that moment is a sudden onslaught of a familiar smell.

His nostrils flare, and he can see his eyes shift to black almost immediately. For some reason, he feels a wave of embarrassment at his reaction, and he squeezes his eyes shut, but he knows that Alex has already seen them.

“Dominic,” he croaks, barely audible.

He can hear Alex coming inside and quickly closing the door behind her. “Yes,” she says. “He’s upstairs.”

“What is he doing here?” Hal asks, all the while trying to force his eyes to go back to normal. There’s no way of telling with them shut, so he experimentally blinks them open, and sees that the colours in the room have gone back to normal. Good.

“That’s a very good question, Hal. Apparently he’s here to see you,” Alex says, her tone quite clearly indicating that she doesn’t agree with this plan.

Hal swallows compulsively. With the door shut, the smell is becoming fainter by the second, but if he really concentrates he can still pick it up in the air. Hal doesn’t quite manage to catch himself before a low growl escapes his throat.

“Oh, this is such a bad idea,” Alex mutters under her breath as she carefully checks all the leather straps, tightening the ones on his arms even more for good measure.

“Ow, bitch!” Hal spits, but all he gets in return is an icy glare.

“It’s either that or you attacking Dominic… again,” she says. “And I don’t know about you, but I think killing someone once is probably more than enough.”

“I didn’t kill him,” Hal says, and she narrows her eyes at him.

“He was dead, Hal. I spoke to his _ghost_.”

This is new information to Hal, and it hits him like a punch in the gut. “I didn’t know that,” he whispers, forehead creased.

“Yeah, well, maybe if you were a little bit less self-absorbed, one of us would have actually told you what happened.”

Her words spin around and around in his head, but he still can’t quite believe them. Dominic… died? Because of him?

“Hang on… are you telling me that you actually _care_?” Alex asks, throwing him a questioning look.

He brings his eyes up to look straight into hers. “Of course I care.”

She slowly shakes her head, never taking her eyes off him. “Shit, Hal, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to figure you out.”

“Neither do I,” Hal points out, finally able to gain back some control as those awful intrusive feelings subside, “so why don’t you stop trying.”

“Yes, you know what?” Alex asks with one last forceful yank at one of the straps. “I think I will. Now, wait here.”

Hal snorts and rolls his eyes. “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.”

He watches her disappear up the stairs. She left the door open, and he is once again surrounded by that delicious smell. It makes his mouth water and his hunger flare white hot in his stomach. He needs to get closer to the source of that smell. He needs to… he can sense it coming closer to him. It’s… it’s almost there, it’s getting so close he can taste it on his tongue, so sweet, so delicious, so irresistible. His eyes close of their own accord, and the smell is all around him now, and with it, he can make out a rhythmic sound.

_Thump thump… thump thump… thump thump…_

He knows that sound. Knows it intimately, knows the person it belongs to.

 _Yes, you do,_ a small voice somewhere in his head tells him. _You know that person, and you care about him. You care about him very much. You don’t want him to get hurt._

Hal’s brow furrows. He doesn’t want him to get hurt. That sounds right, doesn’t it?

“Hal,” a voice says in front of him. He knows that voice, and it makes him feel safe, and wanted, and… loved. “Hal, open your eyes,” the voice says, quietly, encouragingly.

So he does.

***

Dominic slowly walks down the hallway and towards the staircase, feeling Alex’s presence close behind him. He turns around to her when he gets to the cellar door.

“Alex, can I… I want to have a moment alone with him.”

He can hear her sigh. “Sure. It’s your life on the line, so yeah, be my guest.”

He swallows thickly and nods. “Thank you, Alex.”

“Shout if you need me,” she says, and he can feel her disappear.

Taking a deep breath, he opens the door and takes a careful look down the stairs. At the bottom of the staircase, he can see straight into the small room. And there, sitting with his hands and feet tied securely to the arms and legs of the chair, sits Hal.

Dominic can feel his breath catch in his throat as he slowly makes his way down the stairs. His heart is beating so hard he can hear it pulsing in his ears. Dominic comes to a halt at the bottom of the stairs and stands in the doorway for a long moment, just looking at Hal, who sits in the chair with his eyes tightly shut and giving no indication that he has even noticed him there.

“Hal,” he says quietly, his voice only very slightly cracked. He can see a minute flicker in Hal’s face at the word, so he tries again, “Hal, open your eyes.”

Almost immediately, Hal’s eyes fly open, and the sight of them, warm, golden hazel, takes Dominic’s breath away. 

“Dominic,” Hal says hoarsely, and gives him a small, slightly forced looking smile. “Sorry, would’ve got myself cleaned up if I knew you were coming.”

Dominic takes a careful step closer to the chair, and his brow furrows as he properly takes in Hal’s appearance. His hair is an unkempt mess, his skin looks even paler than usual and has a sallow hue to it. There is a sheen of sweat sitting on his forehead, and deep, dark circles under red-rimmed eyes. But what catches Dominic’s eyes more than anything else is the thing that he least expected.

“You’ve grown a beard,” he says, eyes wide as he takes in Hal’s generous amounts of facial hair.

Hal chuckles softly, and the tension in his face lessens a little bit. “Yes, Alex doesn’t even let me out of these to shave.” He pulls on the straps binding his hands.

Dominic lets out a quiet laugh. “It looks good on you,” he blurts out before he can stop himself. Almost immediately, he can feel heat rising into his cheeks.

Hal smirks at him. “I didn’t realise you liked facial hair.”

Dominic feels his blush intensify. “Neither did I,” he says truthfully, and takes another step closer.

“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you,” Hal says, “but as soon as I’m out of here, that’s going to come off.”

“Shame,” Dominic says, voice so low it is almost a whisper. He is standing right in front of Hal now, forcing the vampire to look up at him. Swallowing down the lump in his throat, he reaches out and cups Hal’s face with both hands. The beard feels strange and unfamiliar under his fingertips, but he finds it oddly alluring, and for a moment, he just stands there, caressing Hal’s cheeks with the tips of his fingers, before he slowly, slowly leans in and places the lightest of kisses against his lips.

He can hear Hal let out a soft whimper as he kisses him back, and it makes a pleasant shiver run down his spine. This… this is what he has been waiting for. It’s been far too long.

Dominic hears himself let out a quiet moan as his lips moves more urgently against Hal’s, his hands still cupping Hal’s face, fingers now moved around to the nape of his neck, caressing the soft hairs there.

Hal opens his mouth then, tongue probing at Dominic’s lips, begging him to deepen the kiss. Dominic’s lips part without him consciously being involved in the process, just going with the flow of this incredible experience. He welcomes Hal’s tongue into his mouth, exploring, searching, licking, battling with his own. His grip in Hal’s hair tightens as he pushes back, enters Hal’s mouth with his tongue, explores the wet cavity that is so achingly familiar, and it feels utterly wonderful.

Seemingly out of nowhere, something changes in Hal. He lets out a low, guttural groan and tenses up under Dominic’s hands, and without even touching them, Dominic knows that Hal’s fangs have descended. He pulls back as if struck by lightning, jumping a foot away from the chair, and looks back at Hal, breathing heavily. 

He should have been prepared for what he sees, but when he takes in Hal, eyes black and two pointed white fangs clearly visible between his lips, he still feels a shiver run through him at the sight. Hal’s whole body is tense, like a predator about to spring on his prey, and he pulls on his restraints, pushes away from the chair to close the distance between them again. A low growl escapes his throat, and Dominic feels goose bumps on his skin. There is a part of him that wants more than anything to move in again, to lean down towards Hal, to feel those fangs pierce his skin… but in the end, the rational part of him wins out, and he takes another step away from the chair, keeping at a safe distance.

What he is even less prepared for is the quiet urgency in Hal’s voice a moment later, when he closes his eyes, hiding those empty, black depths from view, and says, “Leave, Dominic. Go. We can’t… I… I can’t trust myself to… you have to go.”

Dominic finds himself nodding, even as he feels his heart breaking all over again. “Okay. I’ll go.”

Hal doesn’t open his eyes again, and as much as Dominic would have liked to have had another glimpse of those beautiful hazel orbs, he knows that the chance of Hal controlling himself enough for his eyes to switch back is close to zero in his current state.

Dominic turns to leave the cellar, but when he gets to the bottom of the stairs, he turns back, takes one last look at Hal. “I love you,” he says.

He can see Hal’s Adam’s apple rise and fall rapidly several times before he answers, “I love you too. Now go, please.”

Dominic turns back towards the stairs and quickly takes the steps, makes his way along the hallway and out the front door without another look back.

***

“How was he?” Adrian asks, brow furrowed as he takes in Dominic, who just walked into the Archive in quick, decisive steps. 

Dominic’s head whips around to where Adrian is standing, shelving files. The first delivery from Scotland Yard arrived in the morning, and while it is still only the two of them – Dominic is planning to bring back more of his old team in due time – he set the young constable the task of populating some of the shelves while he drove off to Barry.

Dominic swallows, taking in Adrian’s questioning look. “As could be expected,” he says, a lot more calmly than he feels. His encounter with Hal still has him reeling internally, and he has a hard time shutting up the insistent voice inside his head that urges him to turn back, to get back into that cellar and untie him, to let him drink his blood and heal and be _Hal_ again.

“So you’ll be leaving him in the care of the Type 1?” Adrian asks curiously.

Dominic sighs. “Yes, for the time being. He is still rather… volatile.”

Adrian grimaces. “That must have been an unpleasant visit.”

“Yes,” Dominic says a little too loudly and accentuates it with a jerky nod. “It was rather.” 

“Well,” Adrian replies, “at least now you won’t have to go back for a while.”

Dominic gives him a forced smile. “No, I suppose I don’t.”

He turns around and makes his way over to his desk, when he notices his phone ringing in his pocket. Frowning, he takes it out, expecting it to be Alex, perhaps even Hal. When he actually looks at the caller ID, it turns out to be neither of the two.

“Regus?” he answers carefully. “What can I do for you?”

“Oh, Mr Rook, good I’m finally getting through to you. I tried a couple of times earlier, but it went straight to voicemail. Must have had no signal.”

“I was driving,” Dominic explains.

“Right, yes,” Regus replies. “Now, the reason I’m calling… you remember you gave me that flask… the O negative?”

“I remember,” says Dominic, taking a seat at his desk.

“Then I’m sure you also remember you told me there was more available, if needed.”

Dominic swallows. “That’s right.”

Regus hesitates briefly before speaking again, “Does the offer also extend to somebody else?”

Dominic frowns. “If you’re speaking about Michaela—”

“No,” Regus cuts in. “I didn’t mean Michaela. I was… talking about a friend of mine. He’s on a cargo ship at the moment, crossing the Atlantic, and apparently there was some kind of… incident with one of the ship’s crew. Long story short, he is drinking blood again, and he could do with a… discreet supply.”

“Discreet supply?” 

“Yes, well… I take it you can keep things confidential?” Regus asks. “Because the thing is… his partner doesn’t know that he’s back on the blood, and from what he says, he probably wouldn’t approve.”

Dominic’s frown deepens. This story is getting stranger with every word. “Is his partner a vampire as well?” he asks.

“No,” says Regus. “That’s the thing, you see. He’s a werewolf.”

“So you would like me to provide your friend with a discreet source of blood without his partner noticing,” Dominic recaps.

“That’s exactly it, yes,” Regus says enthusiastically. “Can you do it?”

Dominic swallows. His left wrist itches, and he swaps the phone into his other hand to scratch it. There is a light tingle running up his arm and through the rest of his body.

“Yes,” he says after a short moment. “I can do that.”


	11. Dissociation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, as always!
> 
> Remember when Alex warned Dominic that sober Hal was going to be very different? ...Yeah.
> 
> I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm so sorry.

I'm grieving  
Found out how to prove it  
You can shout out what you're feeling  
But I don't know how to use it  
I told you that I have to feel safe  
So why don't you get off my way  
In and out you're leaking  
But nothing is worth keeping

\- Blackmail, “So Long Goodbye”

Dominic finishes his call with Regus and notices that he has a text message from Alex.

**What the hell have you done to Hal??**

Dominic frowns at his phone. What does she mean, what has he done? Nothing _actually_ happened, did it? He starts writing back,

**_What do you m—_ **

But he never gets to finish the message, because at that moment, the phone starts vibrating in his hand again. It seems like everything is suddenly happening all at once, as he glances at the screen and sees _Hal calling_ in bright letters.

Dominic’s head whips up to see Adrian still stacking shelves at the far end of the room. It is unlikely his call can be overheard from there, but Dominic doesn’t want to take any chances.

He presses the ‘Decline’ button and gets up from his chair. With a smile and a nod towards Adrian, he walks through the large room to the exit, and then makes his way swiftly down the stairs and into the Type 2 cell block. Shutting the heavy steel door behind him, he pulls his phone back out of his pocket and dials.

Hal picks up on the first ring. “What the fuck was that, Dominic?” he snaps without preamble.

Dominic swallows. “I’m not sure what you mean,” he says calmly, even though Hal’s outburst is making his head spin.

Hal barks out a harsh laugh. “You’re not sure what I mean? Are you trying to get yourself killed? Again?”

Dominic leans back against the wall and takes a deep breath. “I needed to see you,” he says matter-of-factly.

“Yes, I get that,” says Hal, slightly calmer. “But you have to switch your brain on, Dominic. If I hadn’t stepped in, he would’ve torn you to bloody shreds, ties or no ties.”

It takes Dominic a moment to fully digest that last statement, but when he does, a wild flutter settles into his stomach. “Hal?” he asks, voice barely more than a whisper. Could it really be…?

“Hey,” Hal says, and the one word carries all the confirmation that Dominic needs. “It’s been a while.”

Dominic huffs out a laugh. “Yes. You could say that. Is it… really you?”

“Yes, Dominic, it’s me. I’m… not sure how long I’ll be able to stick around, but for now it definitely is me.”

“How is that possible?” Dominic breathes as he slides down the wall and sits on the cold concrete floor. He pulls his legs up and rests his elbows on his knees.

“I’m not entirely sure,” Hal answers. “Somehow your sudden appearance must have triggered the switch. All I know is that he was getting completely consumed by the bloodlust, and I… managed to get the upper hand.”

“That’s incredible,” Dominic whispers. “So at the end, when you told me to leave… that was you?”

“Yes, it was,” Hal says. “He… doesn’t possess that kind of self-control. Even for me it was an enormous effort. I may have looked calm, but all I could think was how much I wanted to tear your throat out.”

Dominic swallows. “I’m sorry, Hal. I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“Clearly not,” says Hal dryly.

Dominic hesitates for a long moment before speaking again. “So… what happens now?” he asks.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you’re back in control, but you’ve already said that it’s not likely to be permanent.”

He can hear Hal sigh on the other end. “It’s more than that, actually,” he says, and Dominic frowns. Hal continues, “Before, when he was in control… something about… something about you made it possible for me to maintain my awareness. To influence him in some way. I think I managed to leak some of my thoughts and feelings into his mind. It’s… difficult to explain.”

“I think I understand,” Dominic says, nodding. “So when I spoke to him, there was a little bit of you in there, too?”

“In a way,” says Hal.

“That’s… really weird,” Dominic admits.

Hal huffs a laugh. “It’s a little unusual even for me, and I’ve done this a few hundred years. When I realised that I was able to hold on, to keep some level of control, I obviously didn’t want to let that go.”

“Of course,” Dominic says.

“But the point I was trying to get to,” Hal continues, “is that now that he is aware of what I’ve been doing… I don’t think he’ll allow me to continue. I think… I’m afraid that when he comes back, it will only be him this time.”

Dominic takes a deep breath. He notices that Hal said ‘when’, not ‘if’. “I understand.” After a brief pause, he adds, “I’m sorry, by the way, that I still haven’t asked Alex and Tom to untie you.”

Hal is silent for a long moment, then, hesitantly, says, “I’m sorry Dominic. I… don’t remember you saying that.”

Dominic frowns, then feels a slight blush creep into his cheeks when he asks, “Do you remember _why_ I said it?”

Hal lets out a quiet chuckle. “I think I’ve got a pretty good idea.”

“So you were… there… for that?” Dominic asks.

Hal clears his throat. “I remember parts of it,” he says, and Dominic can hear the smile in his voice, which, in turn, puts a smile on his own face. “I wish I didn’t remember the part where you told him you loved him, though,” Hal adds, sounding slightly indignant, and Dominic laughs.

“Are you actually jealous of yourself?”

“It’s complicated,” Hal says, prompting another laugh from Dominic. Hal sighs. “Seriously, though, don’t let him fool you, Dominic. No matter what he tells you, he is not capable of love. He doesn’t feel anything.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Dominic says hoarsely. “Hal, listen, I need to get back to work.”

“Of course,” Hal says. “Don’t let me keep you. Just, please, Dominic, promise me that from now on you’ll stay away and never do something so stupid and reckless again.”

A strange, nagging weight makes itself at home in Dominic’s stomach. “What do you mean, ‘never’?” he asks carefully.

“I mean exactly that,” Hal replies, and then he utters the last words that Dominic ever expected him to say, “I… don’t think we’ll be able to see each other again.”

Dominic’s chest constricts painfully. “Hal, what are you saying?”

Hal is silent for what feels like an eternity.

“Hal?” Dominic prompts.

“Dominic, you’re a human. I’m a vampire. The two are not compatible.”

Dominic struggles to get his words out past the huge lump that is growing in his throat. “Hal, no. I… no. No, I refuse to accept that. We’re getting you better, that’s the whole point! You’ll be safe around humans again, just like you have been before.”

Hal lets out a harsh laugh. “Safe?” he scoffs. “I’ve killed every human I’ve ever cared about, Dominic. And as Alex so kindly informed me today, that even includes you.”

“I…” Dominic squeezes his eyes tightly shut as he feels them starting to burn. “Hal…”

“You said you want me to be safe, Dominic,” Hal says.

Dominic nods frantically. “Yes,” he croaks.

“I’m not sure I’ll ever be safe around you.”

Dominic swallows thickly. “Can we… can we at least talk? Like this? For now?”

Hal, once again, takes a long time to reply. “I don’t think that would be very fair on you.”

“No,” Dominic retorts immediately and jumps to his feet. “What wouldn’t be fair on me would be for you to just… drop me like that. After… after everything.”

Hal sighs. “Okay,” he says.

“Okay what?” Dominic asks, eyes narrowing.

“Okay, we can talk on the phone. But you can’t come to the house again, do you understand me?”

“Yes,” Dominic bites out through clenched teeth. _For now,_ he silently adds, and his breaths are starting to come a little easier.

“Thank you,” Hal says. His voice is so gentle it makes Dominic’s throat constrict all over again.

“I love you,” he says.

Hal chuckles quietly. “Wow, that’s twice in one day.”

“Hal!” Dominic chides as he feels his cheeks grow hot.

“All right, I love you too,” Hal says, then sighs. “But that doesn’t change anything.”

Dominic clears his throat. “I know. I’ll… speak to you soon,” he says and ends the call. He leans back against the wall, taking a deep breath, then another, trying desperately to make sense of the last fifteen minutes. For months now, he has barely dared to hope that he would speak to Hal again – _his_ Hal, the _real_ Hal, not that imposter wearing his face – and the first thing Hal does when they finally do is basically break up with him. But Dominic is not just going to accept this. Oh no. He has never been one to give up without a proper fight. He's certainly not going to start now.

Footsteps on the stairs make him look up, and a moment later, the heavy door opens and Adrian steps through, a deep frown in place.

“Are you all right, Mr Rook?” he asks.

Dominic slabs his mask on, throws Adrian a bright smile and says, “Yes, everything’s fine. Just needed to check something down here, I’ll be right back up again in a minute.”

“Okay,” Adrian says, frown not leaving his face. “If it’s all right with you sir, I’ve finished filing, and it’s coming up six o’clock, so…” he trails off.

“Go home,” Dominic says.

“Are you sure, sir?”

“Yes,” Dominic replies, giving him another smile and a nod.

Adrian turns to leave, but pauses by the door, throwing him another look over his shoulder. “Are you really sure you’re okay, sir? You look pale.”

“I’m fine,” Dominic says, not sure how much longer he can keep up this facade.

Adrian gives him one last unconvinced glance before he leaves the room, and Dominic can hear his retreating footsteps on the stairs.

He makes sure that Adrian is well out of earshot before he sets himself in motion. There are preparations to be made.

***

“Alex, would you mind… getting me a cup of tea?”

Alex narrows her eyes at the vampire in front of her, who regards her with an uncertain expression on his face. What the actual fuck?

“Hal?” she asks.

He looks at her with big eyes. “I’d get it myself, but I’m rather inconvenienced at the moment, as you well know.”

“What the hell happened to, ‘Get out of my sight, bitch’?” Alex asks with a frown. “Did someone press the reset button or something?”

Hal’s brow creases. “I think that pretty much sums it up, yes,” he says.

“Huh. Restored to factory settings,” Alex mutters, and she can see the confusion on Hal’s face. “Never mind,” she adds.

“Tea?” Hal asks again, and Alex finds herself nodding.

“Sure thing,” she says and rent-a-ghosts into the kitchen. She takes a look around and finds herself alone. Going over to the kettle and switching it on to boil, she calls, “Tom!”

It only takes a few moments for Tom’s footsteps to get closer to the kitchen, and the swinging doors open to reveal her werewolf friend.

“Wassup?” he asks. “Somethin’ wrong with Hal?”

Alex frowns again. “You could say that. Or more like, there’s something _right_ with Hal?”

Tom mirrors her own frown. “Wha’, you mean he’s… good Hal again?” he asks carefully.

Alex nods, biting her lip. “I think so. He just asked me to make him a cup of tea. Politely. And I mean, he hasn’t eaten or drunk anything for what, the last month?”

“Yeah, that is weird,” Tom concedes. A thoughtful expression comes over him. “D’ya think it’s something Rook did? I mean, Dominic?”

Alex raises her brows at him. “So it’s Dominic now, is it? Well, better late than never.” Thinking about her friend’s question, she shrugs. “I haven’t got a clue. He just stormed out, I didn’t get a chance to ask him what happened. Maybe I should call him and ask?”

Tom nods, and Alex pulls her phone out, calling Dominic’s number. It’s engaged. Sighing, she types out a quick message,

**What the hell have you done to Hal??**

Looking back over to the counter, she sees that the kettle has boiled. She takes a mug from the dish rack and drops a tea bag in it, then turns around to Tom. “Do you want one?” she asks.

Tom shakes his head. “Nah, thanks. But maybe I should come down there with ya.”

Alex nods. “Yeah, maybe you should.” She adds a splash of cold water to the tea and carries it out into the hallway and down the stairs with Tom following behind her. For the second time that day, Alex finds herself opening the secure locking mechanisms on the door, and she slowly opens it to reveal Hal, looking towards them with a thoughtful expression on his face.

“There you go,” Alex says, and walks over to the chair, holding the cup up to Hal’s mouth.

“Could you… do you mind untying my hands?” Hal asks, and Alex frowns. She quickly turns around to Tom, who silently shakes his head.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea quite yet, Hal,” she says. “Especially not with the door open.”

Hal chuckles. “Then close the door?”

Alex raises her eyebrows at him. “I’m sorry, Hal, but if you want this tea, you’re going to have to let me give it to you.”

Letting out a long-suffering sigh, Hal finally nods. “All right.”

Alex takes a step closer and lifts the mug to Hal’s lips again, and he takes a careful sip. He holds it in his mouth for a moment, then swallows, and winces.

“Too hot?” Alex asks, concerned.

“No,” he replies. “Just… not exactly what I’m used to anymore.”

Alex feels slightly sick at the implication. The disgust must have shown on her face, because Hal gives her an apologetic smile and says, “Sorry.”

Alex barks out a laugh. “An apology. Guess you really are back.”

“Yeah, really looks like it, doesn’t it?” says Tom, stepping into the room behind her.

“At least for the time being,” Hal adds.

“Welcome back, mate,” Tom says, and Hal gives him a slightly strained smile before once again gesturing to Alex for the tea. She brings it back up to his mouth, he takes a sip and makes a face.

Alex frowns. “Why are you drinking it if it tastes so horrible?” she asks.

Hal sighs. “Because I have to get myself used to it.”

“So you’re gonna try’n stay off the blood then?” Tom asks, brows furrowed.

Hal’s eyes flick between his two friends, eyes sincere when he says, “Yes, Tom. I’m going to try.”

***

The light in the men’s room is bright and glaring down on Dominic as he slowly rolls up the sleeve of his shirt, exposing the delicate skin on his left wrist. He has stayed true to his word to Hal, up until now, and has not touched the two little circular marks on his wrist, which are both nothing more than shiny scar tissue now.

But this is different, he thinks. This is business. And which one of the Hals did he make that promise to anyway? He’s not sure anymore.

Dominic runs the tip of his index finger over the smooth surface of the scars, and a gentle tingle runs up his arm, making him shiver in anticipation.

Okay, so maybe it’s slightly more than just business.

Dominic reaches up and tightens the tourniquet around his arm, and he holds his breath as he positions his wrist over the funnel that sits in the small flask in the sink. He used to use a needle for this, back in the day when he prepared flasks for Hal. But this way is going to work just as well, isn’t it? And it serves an additional purpose.

Reaching out with his other hand, Dominic picks up the small knife, and his hand shakes very slightly as he lifts it up to his wrist. He takes a deep breath to calm himself, then, in a quick, practised motion, drives the very tip of the knife into the first small mark, the one closest to his thumb.

The instant, sharp pain causes goose bumps on his skin, and he lets out an involuntary, small gasp. He keenly watches the slow, steady stream of blood from his wrist and into the funnel, only to disappear into the waiting flask underneath.

Closing his eyes, Dominic can almost imagine the feeling of Hal’s sharp fangs in his wrist, of his soft lips closing over the delicate skin and gently sucking at the small wounds, and another, stronger tingle runs up his arm, down his spine and through the rest of his body.

Dominic forces his eyes open, sees the flask almost three quarters full already. He knows that those thoughts are dangerous. They are wrong, and they are pointless, because Hal will never again be able to drink his blood like that. His visit to Honolulu Heights this afternoon and his conversation with Hal that followed have made that very clear to him.

If he wants to have any kind of future with Hal, he will have to learn to live without this.

_If only it was that easy._

Dominic watches as the flask fills up almost to the brim before moving his wrist away and letting the blood trickle into the sink for a moment as he grabs a dressing from the counter next to him and swiftly fixes it over the small puncture wound.

That’s one down, Dominic thinks as he fixes the top onto the small flask and washes out the funnel. If he continues this regularly for the next few days, he should have enough of a supply to satisfy the vampire’s – Carl’s – needs when he arrives at the port in Barry.

He has heard of Carl Graham, of course. He remembers at one point he even mentioned ‘the gentleman’ in one of his emails to the Home Secretary. Not that that did him any good. But to think that Carl, who used to live with a human partner for many years and was somewhat of a poster boy for the bloodless lifestyle, has once again fallen off the wagon – it drives home to Dominic the simple truth that no vampire, no matter how committed, can stay off the blood forever.

What they are trying to achieve with Hal is utterly futile.

***

Hal sits on the cold concrete floor, knees pulled up to his chest, fighting a merciless onslaught of nausea, chills and tremors that shake his body. There is a foul-smelling bowl on the floor next to him that really, desperately needs cleaning out.

In the far corner, Mark the pimp is standing, leaning against the wall, arms crossed and giving him a sour look. Hal has been doing his best to ignore him for the last two hours, but the man’s ice-cold stare is starting to test his patience.

Hal closes his eyes as another wave of nausea overcomes him, and he takes a deep breath in an attempt to stop himself from retching, but it’s no use. Reaching for the bowl, he soon brings up a sickening mixture of bitter-tasting bile and partly clotted blood, all other contents long since gone from his stomach.

“Urgh, man, disgusting,” Mark grumbles in the corner, and Hal doesn’t even have the energy to reply. He drops the bowl to the floor and leans his head back, taking a few deep breaths and swallowing repeatedly to try and get the horrible taste out of his mouth, to no avail.

Sighing deeply, Hal’s hand reaches out to the phone that is lying on the floor next to his right foot. He picks it up and unlocks it, then shakes his head, dropping the device back into his lap. He shouldn’t, he knows he shouldn’t. He may have said to Dominic that they can continue to talk on the phone, but in reality he knows that he will have to let him go. Slowly, carefully, yes. But he shouldn’t get the man’s hopes up by initiating contact – especially not so soon after their last call.

“Who ya gonna call? Your pathetic little boyfriend? I seriously can’t understand how he can stand bein’ ‘round ya, detestable creature that you are,” Mark pipes up, and Hal sighs and rolls his eyes.

“Shut up and don’t stick your ugly nose into things you don’t understand,” he replies, voice painful and raw from all the vomiting.

“What? He’s human, ain’t he?” Mark asks, an ugly frown on his face.

Hal sighs. “Yes. And I’m never going to see him again, so just shut the fuck up already.”

Mark huffs. “Why should I? Ya fuckin’ killed me, you filthy bloodsucker. I was actually _afraid_ of ya, ya know? And then I die, and imagine my surprise when I find out that underneath all that bravado, really you’re just a scared little boy that’s been done by too many dirty old men.”

Hal clenches his teeth, doing his best not to rise to the provocation. “You don’t know anything about me,” he grits out, just as another chill grabs his body, and he shudders.

“I know enough, _Hal_ ,” Mark taunts and throws him a lewd grin. “Maybe I coulda put ya to work in that alley, we coulda had some fun rather than all that gore.”

Hal grimaces. “You’re sick,” he says.

Mark barks out a laugh. “ _I’m_ sick? Oh, you’re funny, I give ya that.”

Flaring his nostrils, Hal pointedly looks away from the man in the corner, and his eyes once again fall on the phone in his lap. He _needs_ someone to talk to. Someone real.

 _You could call Alex or Tom,_ the sensible part of his brain suggests. He considers that option for a moment, then shakes his head, lifts up his phone and dials.

“Hi,” Dominic says, and Hal hates the way his voice so clearly reflects the hurt and uncertainty he must be feeling. _I’m doing what is best for you,_ he thinks, trying to convince himself as much as anything.

“Hey,” he answers, doing his best to sound upbeat and positive. “I hope it’s okay I called. I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

Dominic chuckles, and the sound makes Hal’s chest flutter. “No, as a matter of fact, I’m still at work.”

“It’s half past ten in the evening,” Hal says with a furrowed brow.

Dominic sighs. “I know. I’m just… finishing up some things.” He pauses, then adds, “I didn’t really fancy sitting at home alone, and there’s plenty of stuff to do here.”

Hal swallows. He knows what Dominic means by not wanting to sit at home alone, and it makes his heart ache. “What are you doing?” he asks with a smile, trying to steer the conversation to safer waters.

There’s another chuckle from Dominic, before he replies, “I’m… writing in your file, actually.”

Hal barks out a laugh. “What are you writing? ‘Subject found restrained to a chair in cellar, superficially appeared calm, proceeded to snog subject to provoke a reaction’?”

“Hal!” Dominic exclaims, and it makes Hal smile harder. “No, I won’t be writing that.”

Hal puts on a mock-scandalised tone and says, “Are you telling me you're falsifying government documents, Dominic?”

This earns a full, deep laugh from Dominic. “I figured that if it’s between that and documenting what really happened, a little white lie will probably get me into less trouble,” he replies.

“I guess you might be right,” Hal concedes. “So, what are you writing, then? Can you read it to me?”

“Hal…” Dominic says, sounding unsure.

“Dominic,” Hal replies. “Come on, I'm dying of boredom here. I’ve been sick more times than I can count in the last four hours, and there’s a sulky man standing in the corner throwing me dirty looks. I could _really_ do with a distraction.”

“You’ve been sick?” Dominic asks, voice full of concern.

Hal sighs. “Yes. I… thought it might be a good idea to give a cup of tea a try. I’m starting to regret it.”

“Oh dear, Hal,” Dominic says. “I’m so sorry to hear that. But good on you for giving it a go.”

Hal chuckles humourlessly. “If you’d brought up weeks old blood and bile for the last few hours, you’d probably think differently.”

“It’s… probably good to get that stuff out of your system,” Dominic says hesitantly.

“Mmm,” Hal replies noncommittally. “At least me throwing up all over my shirt has finally prompted Alex and Tom to untie me. I guess even Alex isn’t cruel enough to just leave me sitting there topless with a bowl in my lap.”

“Well, whatever the reason, I’m glad you’re out of that chair,” Dominic says.

“Thanks,” Hal replies with a smile. “Now, are you going to read to me what you’ve been writing?”

Dominic sighs, hesitating for a long moment. Eventually, he says, “All right, here goes,” and starts reading, “‘09/08/13 – Cellar inspected where #SJ031 is held.’”

“So that's what your department calls me, huh? #SJ031?” Hal throws in.

Dominic sighs again. “Yes.”

“Sorry, continue.”

Dominic takes a deep breath and reads, “‘#SJ031 sitting in chair on arrival, leather restraints in place, hands and feet. Chair additionally bolted to floor. #SJ031 awake on arrival but not responding to visitor’s presence until verbally prompted. Able to hold short conversation, so visitor approached further. With increasing physical proximity to human visitor, #SJ031 demonstrated classic Type 2 attack behaviours, including black eyes and extended fangs. Struggled against restraints. Visitor left cellar for safety reasons.’”

Hal laughs quietly. “Wow, that sounds dull. Do you have to record everything in that much detail?”

“Of course I do,” Dominic says. “It’s important to keep meticulous records of incidents, Hal.”

Hal laughs harder at what he has come to call Dominic’s business voice, and it triggers another wave of nausea. “Excuse me,” he chokes out before dropping his phone, grabbing the bowl and throwing up violently. When he is done, he swiftly wipes his mouth with one of the tissues Alex left with him and picks up the phone again. The call is still connected. “Sorry,” he says sheepishly.

“Don’t apologise,” Dominic says softly. “I hope you feel better soon.” Then, he tentatively asks, “Hal?”

“Hmm?”

“Would it… would it help you… I mean… do you think we should… I could give you some flasks—”

“No,” Hal says immediately. Of course he knows where Dominic is going with this, and it’s out of the question.

“But Hal, I’ve had lots of vampires on controlled supply of blood in the past, and it is a lot more reliable than—”

“I said no,” Hal retorts icily. “You’re doing the right thing. I managed to stay dry for over fifty-five years before you met me. How long did I last with your method?”

He can hear Dominic exhale sharply on the other end. “What happened was… unfortunate,” he says, and Hal huffs. Ignoring him, Dominic continues, “But I refuse to accept that I will never be able to see you again. What good is it to get you off the blood completely if it means you have to hide yourself away in that house for the rest of your life?”

“I believe that’s my decision, Dominic,” Hal says, trying to stay calm, even as the other one whispers at the back of his mind, _He’s right._

 _“_ There are many more examples of vampires surviving for a long time on small amounts of blood,” Dominic goes on. “If you don’t think the flasks will cut it, I’d be happy to—”

“No, Dominic!” Hal barks. “Christ, you really do have a death wish, don’t you?”

Dominic takes a deep breath and says, “Adam Jacobs’ parents managed to keep him going for many years.”

Hal laughs harshly. “Yes, and from what I've heard, both of them died as a result of chronic blood loss.”

Dominic is silent for a long moment, and his voice is deadly quiet when he says, “I’d gladly do it if that meant I'd get to spend those years with you.”

Hal feels his throat constrict. How can Dominic make him an offer like that? How can he possibly find it in him to refuse? He may have more self-restraint than his out-of-control counterpart, but that doesn’t mean…

Shaking himself, he forces a large gulp of air into his lungs and says, “No, Dominic. I could never allow that.”

Dominic doesn’t say anything at first, and it’s so silent on the other end that for one moment Hal thinks the connection has cut. Then, Dominic’s voice rings through the speaker, and it sounds like every single word is taking him a great effort. “Fine,” he says. “Perhaps I should… get back to work. Otherwise I’ll be here all night.”

Hal sighs. “Dominic—”

“I’m sorry, Hal,” he cuts in, “but I’d like to be alone right now, if it’s all the same to you.”

Hal closes his eyes and leans his head back against the wall, trying to ignore the sharp pain in his chest. “Of course.”

“Bye, Hal,” Dominic says, and without giving him the chance to even reply, the line goes dead.

In the corner, Mark lets out a cold chuckle. “Not so tough after all, are ya?”

“Just fuck off,” Hal growls and, on an impulse, hurls his phone at the man. It crashes into the wall and shatters into a hundred tiny pieces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **dissociation**  
>  /dɪˌsəʊʃɪˈeɪʃ(ə)n, dɪˌsəʊsɪˈeɪʃ(ə)n/  
>  _noun_  
>  the action of disconnecting or separating or the state of being disconnected.


	12. Lapse of Judgement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> This was a hard chapter to write, for many reasons, and it also ended up being the longest one so far in Part II, but I really didn’t want to split it or cut it short, so here it is.

How did it feel  
When it came alive and took you  
Out of the black?  
It broke your skin and shook through  
Every part of me, every part of you

\- Royal Blood, Out of the Black

Dominic opens another one of the heavy cardboard boxes and starts to put his belongings away in cupboards and drawers. It was through a pure stroke of luck that he was able to get a flat in the same street, if not not the same building, that he used to live before, and it makes him feel an odd sense of belonging that he never felt in his flat in London.

Add to that the fact that he tried again, for the fifth consecutive day, to phone Hal, just to get through to voicemail, and he made the decision to busy himself by actually unpacking all of his boxes this time.

He honestly isn’t sure what is going on with Hal, but he feels that him not picking up the phone – no, more than that, him obviously having _switched off_ his phone – sends a clear enough message, so he decided to give him some space. He obviously needs it. And with everything that happened in the last few days, Dominic can’t deny that there is a part of him that needs it, too.

Dominic puts away the old tea set he inherited from his father and reaches back into the box when his hand makes contact with something soft. He frowns and takes a closer look, only to find a clear plastic bag containing a multitude of other, smaller plastic bags with what looks like a white, powdery substance in them. Dominic has watched enough TV to instantly recognise what he is dealing with.

A heavy weight drops into his stomach as he stares at the drugs, and his head is starting to reel as he tries to figure out how on Earth they would have made their way into one of his removal boxes.

But really, he thinks with a heavy heart, there is only one possible explanation.

Dominic clears his throat loudly as he picks up his phone from where he left it on the coffee table, and he goes through his contacts until he finds _Natasha._ His hand hovers over the button for a long moment. What is he going to say to her? Is she even going to pick up the phone?

 _Only one way to find out_ , he thinks, and dials.

To Dominic’s surprise, she actually does pick up. “Dominic?” she asks hesitantly, and despite everything, he can’t help the tiny smile that creeps into his face at hearing her voice.

“Tasha.”

“Tom said you came to the house the other day,” Natasha continues, her voice still sounding quiet and uncertain, as if she isn’t quite sure how to talk to him after how they left things.

Dominic swallows. “That’s right. Not exactly one of my brightest moves,” he admits, and she lets out a small laugh.

“At least you’re still alive,” she says, and he feels a sharp stab in his heart. She still doesn’t know about his… incident… with Hal, and as far as he is concerned, she really doesn’t have to.

“Yes,” he says with a smile, then, after a short pause, adds, “How have you been, Tasha?”

She sighs, then says, “I’m all right.” It doesn’t sound all that convincing to Dominic.

“Are you sure?” he prompts.

Natasha lets out another, deeper sigh, then, “I’ve been a bit off colour, but I’m getting there.”

This is his opening, Dominic thinks. “Could your ‘being off colour’ be anything to do with the stash of drugs I found in one of my removal boxes, Tasha?”

There is shocked silence on the other end, and Dominic feels a stab of guilt for confronting her quite so directly. He is about to say something else, to even offer an apology, perhaps, when she says, “Shit, Dominic. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t apologise to me, Tasha,” he says harshly, a sudden surge of anger gripping him. “Apologise to yourself for throwing your goddamn life away. I honestly thought you were smarter than that.”

“Did you seriously just say those words to me, Dominic? Think about it very carefully.”

Dominic swallows. He knows she has a point, more than she will ever realise. “We were talking about you, not me,” he says.

“Well, what do you want me to say?” Tasha replies hotly, then takes a deep breath and calms down slightly before continuing, “I was going through a rough time, Dominic. Mark – that’s the guy I lived with – he got me into it, and then, when I didn’t bring in enough money to pay for it anymore, he… offered me alternative arrangements.”

Dominic’s stomach turns when he thinks about what she is saying. He lets out a deep breath and says, “I’m sorry, Tasha. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that.”

He can hear her sigh on the other end. “Thanks. I really am getting better, you know. Tom’s been a great help.”

“Have you told him?” Dominic asks, frowning.

“No,” she replies. “I don’t think he would understand. But he let me work in the hotel regardless, never asked any awkward questions… he’s been really sweet. I know you don’t like him very much, but… I don’t think I could’ve done it without him.”

He feels a wistful smile spread on his face. “I’m glad he could help you, Tasha.”

She is silent for a short moment, then says, “I’m sorry, Dominic, I’ve got to go. Some new guests just arrived and I’m supposed to cover reception.”

“Of course,” he says with a smile.

“Dominic?” she asks then, voice sounding small and hesitant.

“Yes, Tasha?”

“It’d be good to… see you again? Sometime?” she says, and it sounds more like a question than a statement.

“I’d like that too, Tasha,” he says genuinely, then adds, “You better not keep your customers waiting.”

“Thanks. Talk to you soon,” she says and hangs up.

***

Carl carefully walks along the slightly swaying ramp that connects the cargo ship to the dock. After nearly a month at sea, he can’t wait to feel solid ground under his feet again. It was bad enough the first time around, but at least back then he wasn’t having to hide away the hunger that was eating away at him, threatening to tear him apart. It has been a week and a half since the incident with the crew man, and Carl can feel the hunger gnaw away at his insides. Trying his best to take his mind off his predicament, he slowly turns around to see Pedro following closely behind him. When the werewolf notices him looking, he gives Carl a bright smile.

“There we are, carinho,” he says gently, and Carl can’t help the smile that grows on his own face at the endearment. “Home.”

“Yes,” Carl says with a nod, and turns back around to let his eyes wander over the bleak landscape of the Barry Docks. _Not quite home yet,_ he thinks, _but we’re almost there_. The plan will be to look for a place somewhere on the seafront. Brighton perhaps, or Portsmouth. But they will need time for that, so Pedro has booked them a room in a local hotel that, from what he has heard, appears to be run by a werewolf and a vampire. And not just any vampire either, Carl thinks with a small frown. For Lord Harry to decide to go clean - who would have thought? From what he can remember, the Old One used to be known for his brutality and decadent excess, back in the day. And for his passion for dogfights.

Carl shudders as he thinks about bringing Pedro anywhere near him, but then he remembers that Lord Harry – or Hal as he seems to prefer to call himself now – also shares his life with a werewolf. They are not… romantically involved, from what he understands, but they do live together. It gives Carl some hope that the Old One may have been genuine about changing his ways.

“What’s on your mind, carinho?” Pedro asks, coming up next to him and snaking an arm around his waist, and Carl realises that he has stopped dead partway down the ramp.

Swallowing down a small lump in his throat, he says, “Nothing much. Just thinking about the vampire and werewolf that run that hotel—”

“Hal and Tom,” Pedro says, and he nods.

“The vampire… Hal. He didn’t used to like werewolves very much.”

Pedro lets out a sharp laugh. “That sentiment seems to run rampant in your species.”

Carl gives him a small, apologetic smile. “I know. I just… I hope he will have changed his opinion, that’s all.”

“I’m sure it’ll be just fine,” says Pedro, and lightly nudges him to continue walking.

From the docks, they take a cab to the hotel, and Carl spends most of the journey holding his breath so as not to get overwhelmed by the cab driver’s enticing scent in the small enclosed space. God, how is he ever going to keep this quiet? He will have to feed, and soon, otherwise he will not be able to keep a lid on the urge.

From what Regus told him, he has made arrangements for someone from the Department of Domestic Defence to provide him with some donated blood. Regus said that he tried it himself, and it was first rate, not like that revolting stuff you would find in a blood bank that tastes more of citric acid than blood.

Regus also provided him with a phone number, and as soon as he gets a minute to himself, he will make contact with the man – Rook. He is based in Cardiff, as far as he knows, so should be able to make it to Barry without very much delay.

They arrive in front of the hotel, a plain-looking brick building called the _Barry Grand_ , and Pedro pays the driver, while Carl clambers out of the cab in record speed and gulps in a deep breath of fresh sea air.

“You all right, carinho?” Pedro asks as he comes around the cab to stand in front to him on the pavement. The werewolf is a few inches shorter than him, and looks up at him now with a furrowed brow and worry in his dark brown eyes.

“Yes,” Carl says with a jerky nod. “Just… sometimes, it gets a bit more difficult, you know, in such close quarters.” He gestures back to the cab, that is slowly rolling away down the road.

Pedro’s frown deepens, but he gives him an encouraging pat on the shoulder. “I understand. I sometimes forget that you have to fight it all the time. For me, at least it’s only one day a month.”

A sharp stab of guilt hits Carl square in the chest, and a small part of him just wants to confess to Pedro there and then that he had an… accident… on their journey. But looking into those deep brown eyes, so full of trust and love for him, he can’t bring himself to do it. It would break his heart.

Instead, he reaches out and grabs Pedro’s hand, so warm in his own, and together they walk through the doors and into the hotel lobby. Looking around him, Carl’s honest first opinion of the place is, _What a dump_. But he understands the advantage of staying in a hotel where their… specific needs can be catered for. Especially with the full moon only one short week away.

Still holding Pedro’s hand in his own, Carl makes his way over to the reception desk, only to find it empty. Frowning, he rings the little bell and steps back, waiting for someone to arrive to check them in.

He is just taking a look around the small lobby as his eyes fall on an elderly man in a wheelchair, who is sitting in one corner of the room, reading the paper. As if he felt Carl’s eyes on him, he lowers the paper, folds it up in his lap and gives the two of them a jovial smile.

“Welcome to Barry,” the old man says. “You two look like you’ve had a long journey.”

“We have indeed,” Pedro replies instantly, throwing the man a friendly smile. “Just arrived on a ship from Brazil.”

“Brazil! Goodness me,” the man exclaims. “You must be exhausted.” He trains his eyes on Carl and adds, “You in particular look like you could do with a good meal and a nap.”

Carl’s smile is slightly strained as he replies, “I suppose you’re right. I didn’t even realise how tired I was until you said it.”

“Oh, yes,” the old man says, nodding, “but don’t forget to eat, as well. You’ve got to keep your strength up, after all.” He gives Carl another smile, and something about it makes a small shiver run down his spine. His eyes narrow slightly as he looks back at the man, whose eyes have wandered to something behind Carl and Pedro. He turns around to follow the man’s gaze to see a young woman with dark brown hair and wearing a maroon staff uniform walking towards them.

“I’m so sorry you had to wait,” she says, fidgeting slightly with the hem of her sleeve as she takes a seat behind the reception desk. Her name badge reads ‘Natasha’, Carl notices. Natasha looks up at them now and gives them both a bright smile. “What can I do for you?”

 _I’ve got an idea or two,_ Carl thinks before he can stop himself. Giving himself a little shake, he exhales sharply and holds his breath, looking over to Pedro to do the talking for them. The werewolf gives him a funny look, but turns around to the young woman and says, “Pedro Carvalho da Silva. I booked a room for myself and my partner for two weeks.”

Natasha looks down and checks what must be the guest register. “Ah, yes. There we go,” she says after a short moment. “Mr Carvalho da Silva and Mr Graham. You’re in Room 9, first one on your left on the first floor.” She gives them another smile and holds the key out to them.

Carl reaches out and takes the key from her, just as Pedro says, “Thank you.”

Then Natasha’s brow creases as she adds, “I believe you asked to speak to Tom, the manager, is this correct?” she asks quietly, stealing nervous glances towards the corner where the old man is sitting.

Pedro nods. “That’s right. I believe he had some… information for me, regarding a sensitive matter.”

“Yes,” Natasha confirms, never taking her eyes off the man in the corner, who seems busy reading his paper and surely wouldn’t pay any attention to two other customers at the reception desk. It all seems very odd to Carl. “Unfortunately Tom is not at work today, but I will let him know that you’ve arrived, and he will come and find you tomorrow.”

“Thank you very much,” says Pedro with a smile, then Carl can feel his hand at the small of his back, gently guiding him towards the staircase. Once they are out of earshot of both Natasha and the old man, he leans down close to Carl’s ear and says, “What’s gotten into you, carinho? Did the journey not agree with you? I haven’t seen you this on edge for a good couple of years.”

Carl tries on a slightly forced smile. “I’m not a hundred percent sure, my love. Maybe it’s like the old man said, and I just need a good rest. I didn’t sleep particularly well on that ship.”

They arrive at their room, and Carl quickly unlocks the door and steps inside, with Pedro close behind him. It’s a plain, but pleasant enough room hosting a king size bed and not much else. They both drop their suitcases down on the bed, and Carl takes a seat in one of the armchairs in the corner as Pedro announces, “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to go and freshen up. I need to get that ship’s stench off of my skin.”

Carl smiles at him again, more genuinely this time, and says, “Of course. Take your time. I might do the same once you’re done.”

Pedro starts walking towards the bathroom, but stops and turns back to Carl. “And perhaps after that we can have a look at the restaurant menu, hm? The old man was right, we could probably both do with a decent meal.”

Carl’s stomach turns at the idea, but he finds himself nodding nonetheless. Hopefully, come dinner time, he will have already ingested another, more desirable substance. The nod seems to be enough for Pedro, who mirrors it with one of his own before disappearing into the bathroom.

Carl swiftly gets up and, as quietly as possible, opens the door, stepping out into the corridor. There is a large window at the end of the corridor, and Carl stands in front of it, gazing out onto the sunny seafront as he takes out his mobile phone and dials the number Regus gave him.

It rings three times before a male voice answers on the other end. “Hello?”

“Mr Rook?” Carl asks hesitantly.

“Yes,” the voice on the other end answers, then, “Who is this?”

Carl clears his throat. “My name is Carl Graham. I believe you spoke to my friend, Regus.”

“Ah, yes, Carl,” Rook answers. “I was expecting your call.” After a short pause, he adds, “I hope it’s all right if I call you Carl?”

“What? Yes, yes, of course,” Carl says. He didn’t expect the man to be so… respectful. His previous experiences with men like him have always been verging on humiliating.

“I take it you were going to ask me to meet up,” Rook says.

“That’s right,” he confirms, then swallows and adds, “I… could do with seeing you sooner rather than later, if you get my meaning.”

“Perfectly,” Rook replies. “I can be there in… about half an hour, if that suits you.”

Carl thinks for a moment. Pedro is still in the shower now, but it won’t take him another thirty minutes. He will have to come up with some excuse to leave the room again for a short while when Rook arrives.

An almighty cramp grips his stomach at that moment, and he clenches his teeth not to groan out loud. Letting out a long breath through his nose, he says, “That’s perfect, Mr Rook. Thank you.”

***

Dominic takes a deep breath to slow his fast-beating heart as he looks up at the familiar brick building. There are so many memories here. The first night he ever spent with Hal…

Dominic sighs and shakes his head. There is no space for those kinds of thoughts right now. He has to have his head free for what is essentially a business transaction. Walking through the doors into the foyer, Dominic takes a quick look around, and his eyes sweep over Captain Hatch sitting in the corner, reading the _National Gazette_. He makes sure that his eyes don’t linger, as to not draw attention to himself. It’s the last thing he needs right now.

“Dominic?” a familiar voice sounds from the reception desk, and his eyes grow wide as they dart over to the source of the voice and fall on Natasha. She looks well, he must admit, better than he has seen her for a long time, even though there are still dark circles under her eyes, but the eyes themselves are dancing. “When I said I’d like to see you again, I didn’t expect you to just drop everything and come straight over,” she says, a little teasing smile on her face.

“As much as I’d like to pretend you’re the reason for my visit, Tasha, I’m actually here on business,” he says, making a point of keeping his voice down, given the Devil sitting in the corner.

“Well, it’s good to see you anyway,” she says, then looks down as if suddenly embarrassed. “I… really am sorry about… you know.”

He gives her a small, encouraging smile. “Don’t worry about it, Tasha. It’s in the past,” he says, then gives her a significant look and adds, “isn’t it?”

She sighs deeply. “I hope so.” Then she looks at him quizzically and says, “So you’re here on business? What kind of business?”

“That’s confidential, I’m afraid,” Dominic says. “I’d like to book a room for about an hour, if possible.”

“We don’t usually rent out rooms by the hour, Mr Rook,” Natasha says with a crooked smile and a wink, and he feels a furious blush rise into his cheeks. She gives him a small eye roll and says, “Sure you can, Dominic. I’m just teasing you.” She looks down at the guest register and, after a short moment, glances back up at Dominic. “Room 12 is free.”

Dominic nods. “Thank you, Tasha.”

Natasha holds out the key to Room 12 out to him, and he turns around in the direction of the stairs.

“Mr Rook,” a familiar voice sounds from the corner of the room then, and Dominic freezes. His head turns slowly to face Captain Hatch, who is looking at him with a big smile on his face. “Fancy seeing you here.”

 _He doesn’t know that you know anything,_ Dominic tries to inwardly soothe himself. _Just act casual. You’ll be fine._

“Captain!” he exclaims, putting on a big smile of his own to hide the chill he is feeling. “Yes, indeed. I haven’t had a lot of reason to come here of late. How have you been?”

“Oh, you know, the old bones,” Hatch says with a sigh. “But I’d be much more interested to hear what brings you here again, Mr Rook. Business or pleasure?”

“Business, I’m afraid,” Dominic says.

“Hmm, is that so?” Hatch asks, sounding unconvinced.

Dominic frowns. “Yes, it is. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Captain, I really have to—”

“You here for the vampire or the werewolf?” Captain Hatch cuts in.

“The… vampire,” Dominic admits, and immediately wonders why he is telling the man anything at all.

“I see,” Hatch says, giving him another one of his chilling smiles. “Well, then, Mr Rook, I shouldn’t keep you any longer. Good luck dealing with your vampire.”

“Thank you,” Dominic says, unable to keep the small frown off his face. “Good to see you again, Captain.”

He turns around and quickly makes his way up the stairs and down the corridor, pulling out his phone and sending a text message to Carl while he walks,

_**I’m in Room 12, whenever you are ready.** _

He closes the door behind him and once again feels his heart speeding up. What is it that makes him feel so anxious about this meeting? He has done this hundreds of times before. Is it just the eerily familiar surroundings? His memories playing tricks on him?

Or is it something altogether different?

He doesn’t get more time to ponder this question, however, as there is a cautious knock on the door. Dominic opens the door to reveal a tall, slim man with short, dark hair and dark brown eyes. Dominic’s breath catches in his throat when he recognises the expression in those eyes. An expression he knows only too well.

“Mr Rook?” the man asks in a slightly hoarse voice, and Dominic finds himself nodding.

“That’s me. Carl, I presume?”

“Yes,” says Carl, and gives him an expectant look.

“Please, come in,” Dominic says and steps aside to give the vampire some space to enter the room. Dominic closes the door behind him and turns around to face the vampire, who is standing in front of the bed, hands buried in his pockets and darting nervous glances around the room.

“I haven’t got long,” Carl says tensely. “I told Pedro – that’s my partner – that I’ve gone downstairs looking for Hal, but if I don’t return soon, he’ll surely come looking for me.”

“Hal?” Dominic asks before he can stop himself. Carl meets his eyes.

“Yes, he’s another vampire. I was told he works here, alongside the werewolf, Tom.”

Dominic swallows. “Yes, I’m… aware of Hal,” he says, then adds, “He doesn’t work here anymore.”

“Oh?”

“Yes,” Dominic continues, a little bit too loudly in the quiet room. “He’s had an unfortunate… incident… and he is currently detoxing at home.”

“I wasn’t aware of that,” Carl says, frowning, then looks straight at Dominic and asks, “So I take it you have something for me?”

Dominic nods and reaches into his coat pocket, pulling out a small flask, and notices the vampire’s eyes immediately zooming in on it. He takes a step closer to the vampire, watching as his dark eyes go even darker as he follows his movement. Just as Carl is about to grasp the flask out of his hand, Dominic’s eyes dart down to the vampire’s mouth, and he can just about make out the tiniest flash of white between his lips.

Dominic feels the stirrings of something at the bottom of his stomach, and without consciously knowing what he is doing, he hears himself say, “Stop.”

Carl freezes mid-movement and trains his dark, stormy eyes on Dominic again. “Is something wrong?”

“No.” Dominic shakes his head. “Nothing is wrong. I just…” he trails off. _What were you going to say?_

Carl’s eyes bore into him, and he once again feels his heart speed up, a detail that clearly hasn’t escaped the vampire, whose eyes flick down to his chest for a fraction of a second before coming back up to his face. “You just what, Mr Rook?” Carl asks. “If you don’t mind, I could really do with—”

Dominic feels like he is functioning on autopilot as his hands come up to his shirt collar, and he opens the top two buttons, loosens his tie and pulls the shirt away from his neck.

“Here,” he gasps, stomach giving a treacherous flutter as he watches Carl’s eyes switch to black. The vampire takes a hesitant step towards him, eyes never leaving his exposed neck.

“Are you sure, Mr Rook? I wasn’t aware that… that was part of the agreement.”

“It is now,” Dominic hears himself say, all the while a voice in his mind is shouting, _No! What the hell do you think you’re doing?_

Carl is almost a head taller than him, and he can feel him looming over him as he moves in even closer and leans down towards his neck. Dominic’s eyes slip closed, anticipating the inevitable impact, and he starts when instead of the pinprick of sharp fangs, he feels the tip of a finger touching the smooth scars on his neck.

“You’ve done this before,” the vampire says hoarsely, and Dominic nods.

“I have.” The gentle touch is sending a shiver down his spine, and he finds it difficult to collect his thoughts.

The next moment, his mind goes completely blank as the vampire’s lips make contact with his skin, and a second later, he feels the well-known sharp pain of fangs piercing his skin. Dominic can’t help the soft whimper that escapes him, and he squeezes his eyes tightly shut as he focuses on the intoxicating feeling of the vampire’s mouth on his neck. His heart is threatening to burst out of his chest, and his breaths are coming in quick, superficial gasps.

 _Count_ , a little voice in his mind reminds him, and, startled, he starts counting.

_One… two… three… four… five… six… seven… eight… nine… ten…_

With all the strength he can muster, Dominic brings his hands up to the vampire’s chest and pushes him off of him. His eyes open to see Carl stumbling backwards, one hand coming up to wipe at the small trickle of blood that is running from the corner of his mouth. Dominic finds that he suddenly can’t tear his eyes away from that mouth. He feels himself moving forwards again without his conscious input, hands coming up and pushing against Carl’s chest until the vampire thuds loudly into the wall behind him. Dominic’s hands move from the vampire’s chest to his head then, and he tilts it down towards him before crushing their lips together.

It’s not a gentle kiss, not in the slightest, but that’s not what Dominic is after right now. His lips take on a life of their own as they move against the vampire’s, who lets out a small, surprised noise before he melts into the kiss, while Dominic’s body weight presses him into the wall and his hands maintain their almost painful grip in the short hair.

 _This isn’t right,_ a slow thought creeps into Dominic’s mind. _It shouldn’t be like this. He isn’t who you want, and this isn’t_ what _you want, either._

Carl’s hand comes up to cup Dominic’s face then, fingers lightly caressing his cheek, and somehow, something about it feels all wrong. Dominic freezes as his mind slowly catches up with what is happening. His hands fall away from Carl’s head, and he jumps back from the vampire as if burned. His breaths are coming in ragged gasps, his heart is pounding in his chest, and there is a tell-tale tightness in his trousers that makes him feel slightly sick.

Chancing a quick look at the vampire, he sees Carl still leaning against the wall, eyes wide open and showing off his blown pupils, chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. A slow frown builds on the vampire’s face now as he regards Dominic carefully.

Dominic quickly averts his eyes. He can feel all blood draining from his face. What has he done?

“I take it _that_ wasn’t part of the agreement,” Carl gasps out, and Dominic frantically shakes his head.

“No, it wasn’t.” Dominic’s eyes dart around the room, looking anywhere but at the vampire. One of his hands reaches back into his pocket, pulling out the small flask of blood. He holds it out in the direction of the vampire. “Here you go. Let me know when you need more, and I’ll be here.”

Carl takes the flask and quickly stores it away in his own pocket. “Thanks,” he says, and then, “Will there be more… like this?”

Dominic’s eyes flick in his direction just in time to see Carl awkwardly gesturing between the two of them, and then to Dominic’s neck. _No!_ his rational mind screams. He swallows. “If you’d like,” he says hoarsely, then cringes. _Why are you doing this?_

“But no more kissing,” Carl says then, and Dominic can feel heat rising into his cheeks.

“Definitely not,” he agrees, shaking his head. “I… I’m sorry. I should go.”

“Yes,” Carl says quietly. “I think maybe you should. And I should go back to my own room. Pedro will come looking for me any minute.” Dominic nods abruptly and buttons up his shirt with shaking fingers, tightening his tie back around his neck, hoping it will be enough to stop the slow trickle of blood. He should be able to make it back to his car, at least, without anything seeping through. Without another look at the vampire, he swiftly moves over towards the door. He is just about to depress the door handle when Carl adds, “And Mr Rook, if you speak to Hal… tell him I said hi?”

Dominic’s stomach lurches. “Of course,” he rasps out, then opens the door and leaves the room.

Crossing the lobby in quick steps, he almost can’t suppress a groan when Captain Hatch’s voice once more drifts over to him. “I take it your meeting was a success?”

Dominic gives the old man a fleeting look and a nod. “Yes, thank you, Captain.”

Hatch smiles. “Well, I look forward to seeing you again very soon, Mr Rook.”

Dominic nods distractedly. He needs to get out of here. “So do I, Captain. So do I.”

***

Alex sits down on the large white three-seater with a heavy sigh. She went to find Dominic at the Archive, walked all those bleak, empty corridors, only to find a couple of unfamiliar young men in grey suits stacking shelves with heavy looking boxes, and an elderly man sitting in a corner, poring over a long list while chewing on a pen.

No one seemed to be in any way aware of her presence, but there was also no sign of Dominic, so she decided to go looking for him at his flat instead. It’s high time that she gets some answers.

Alex looks up when she hears a key turning in the front door, and a moment later a frantic looking Dominic walks past the living room door, heading for what she expects to be the bathroom. Alex frowns and gets up, slowly walking in the direction of the closed bathroom door. She can hear the shower coming on on the other side, and the faint rustling of Dominic getting undressed.

Given no choice but to wait, Alex leans against the wall in the hallway, thoughts wandering back to the vampire in the cellar back home. She was alarmed and confused to find Hal’s phone in pieces on the floor that morning, almost a week ago now, with him giving her a vague excuse of hallucinations and losing his composure, but what puzzled her more than anything was the fact that he insisted on not getting a replacement. The phone being his only connection to the outside world, and most importantly of all, to Dominic, it made her feel very uneasy that Hal decided to so easily cut that connection.

The water turning off in the bathroom makes her look up, and a short while later, the door opens to reveal Dominic, wearing only a large, dark grey towel wrapped around his waist. His eyes are trained on the floor as he steps out of the bathroom before, suddenly, he stops in his tracks, and his eyes grow wide as he slowly looks up in her direction. “Alex?” he asks.

“Hi, sorry to drop in like this,” she says. She can’t stop her gaze from nervously flitting over Dominic’s half-naked form when she notices something unusual, and her eyes are drawn to the man’s neck. “Dominic?” she gasps out. “What the fuck have you done?”

Dominic’s eyes, if possible, go even wider when he realises what she is looking at. “Alex, listen, I can explain…” he starts anxiously.

Alex snorts harshly. “Yeah? Go ahead, then, give me your explanation. I can’t wait.”

She can see his Adam’s apple rise and fall rapidly. “Can I at least put some clothes on first?” he asks quietly.

She rolls her eyes, but says, “All right. I’ll be waiting in the living room.”

She doesn’t have to wait long for Dominic to enter the room and take a seat across from her in the armchair. He is wearing a black polo shirt that looks suspiciously like one of Hal’s, and that does nothing to hide the two stark, new bite marks on his neck. For some reason it makes her irrationally angry.

“So, you gonna tell me what the fuck you’ve been up to?” she snaps.

To her surprise, Dominic heaves a big sigh, averts his eyes, and says, “I made a terrible mistake, Alex.”

His voice is so full of shame and regret that it takes the wind right out of her sails, and there is significantly less bite in her voice when she asks, “Can you tell me what happened?”

His eyes come back up to look in her direction, and they are so full of hurt that it makes her heart ache. “There’s this vampire, Carl…” he starts, then pauses and looks down again.

“Carl Graham? The vampire that just arrived in Barry from Brazil?”

Dominic nods. “Yes. Regus—” his voice breaks, and he clears his throat before he starts again. “Regus called me, a little while ago, and asked me to supply him with some blood when he arrived. I agreed.”

“Well, all right, but that doesn’t mean—”

“I wasn’t finished, Alex,” he says loudly, then continues in a quieter voice, “I agreed, and I prepared some flasks to give him when he got here. That was the plan, I promise you,” he adds, and gives Alex a pleading look.

“So, then, what changed your mind?” she asks, brow furrowed.

He lets out another sigh, averts his eyes again. “When I was in the room with him… it was like… I felt so drawn to him. I couldn’t stop myself. I…” He squeezes his eyes shut, and Alex gives him a moment to collect his thoughts before he carries on, “I miss him so much, Alex. It’s been… it’s been hard, being away from him for so long. It’s made me think… thoughts… that I know are wrong, but I just can’t stop them. So when I was in the room with that vampire, my mind just switched off, and I just wanted to feel like that again… I don’t know,” he finishes with a helpless shrug, gulping in a deep breath.

Alex’s mind is reeling from his admission, and she doesn’t immediately know how to respond, so they sit in silence for a long moment. Eventually Dominic, looking the most uncomfortable she has seen him today, opens his mouth again, hesitating before he says the next words.

“Go on, I’m listening,” Alex says, trying to sound encouraging.

“I… when he was finished…” he drifts off again, a haunted look in his eyes, apparently staring at some spot on the coffee table.

“Yes?”

In a voice that is almost a whisper, he says, “I kissed him, Alex.”

Alex’s mouth opens without her say-so, and she stares at him in utter disbelief. “You what?”

He shakes his head. “I know, I… I don’t know what came over me. I swear it didn’t mean anything.”

“I can’t believe this, Dominic,” she says. “I thought you loved Hal.”

His eyes flick up, piercing right into her. “I do. I love him more than anything in the world.” He is silent for a moment before adding, “Please don’t tell him, Alex. I swear it won’t ever happen again.”

“Of course I won’t tell him,” she says, and she can immediately see his posture relax. His mouth opens to say something when she adds, “But you should.”

Dominic tenses up again at once, throwing her a desperate look. “I… can’t. Please, it’s been difficult enough to convince him not to cut me out of his life completely. This… it wouldn’t help anyone if he knew.”

“Is that why he’s been refusing to replace his phone?” Alex asks, and Dominic frowns.

“What do you mean, replace his phone? I thought he switched his phone off?”

Alex shakes her head. “Nope. He smashed it into a wall in a fit of rage, or so he says,” she explains. “Tom and I offered to get him a new one, but he refused.”

Dominic’s frown deepens. “I had no idea. I thought he just didn’t want to talk to me.”

“So you guys did have a fight?” she asks.

Dominic looks thoughtful for a moment. “No. Not a fight, as such. Just a… disagreement about the best way to move forward. It’s a long story, never mind.”

He gets up and walks over to one of the cabinets, rummaging around for a minute before straightening up and holding out a small black object to her.

“Here. Give him this. It’s the same model he had before. Knowing him, he probably wouldn’t want to get used to a different one.”

Alex takes the phone and puts it into her pocket. “Thanks. Hopefully he’ll accept it from you.”

He gives her a small smile. “It’s worth a try. Tell him… tell him that I miss talking to him, and that I accept his terms, for now.”

Alex frowns and wonders if there is any point in asking him what Hal’s ‘terms’ might be. She decides against it. Those two have always been too secretive for their own good, and she doubts she would get a straight answer out of Dominic.

“All right,” she says, and her eyes once more fall on the marks on his neck. “And Dominic, please promise me you’re not going to let Carl or anyone else do that to you again.”

He shakes his head a little bit too quickly for her liking, and he doesn’t look at her when he replies, “No, of course not.”

Alex narrows her eyes, looking at him for a long moment. Then, with a sigh, she says, “Good. I trust you to do the right thing, Dominic,” and without waiting for an answer, she rent-a-ghosts back home.


	13. According to Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so very much for reading.
> 
> *Takes a deep breath* So, this is a big one. So big, in fact, that I ended up having to split it in two, but both parts are written, and I'm going to post one now, and the second one early tomorrow, once I've finished proof-reading it. 
> 
> All I can say is, read at your own peril.

There were days of no surprise on the wing  
When nobody cared but you  
Outright we tried to feel a salvation  
The proof of it was always you

\- Interpol, “Twice as Hard”

Tom walks into the hotel lobby, and his eyes immediately fall on the two men sitting and waiting at the small table by the fireplace. With the full moon only three days away, his sense of smell quite clearly tells him that these are the two he is here to meet.

Taking a deep breath, Tom walks over to them and holds out his hand. “Mr Carvalho da Silva and Mr Graham?” he asks.

Both men jump to their feet, and the shorter, slightly darker-skinned one – the werewolf, Tom’s senses tell him – reaches out to shake his hand, while the other stands by and gives him a slightly nervous smile.

“Please call us Pedro and Carl,” the werewolf says, gesturing first to himself and then to his partner. The vampire, Tom notices, has a slightly pale, tired look about him, and his eyes are darting restlessly around the room.

“Nice to meet ya, I’m Tom. We talked on the phone,” he introduces himself. “Sorry, I’ve been away for a couple of days. I’ve been lookin’ after a… friend.”

“Hal,” Carl speaks up, the first word he has said, and he now looks at Tom with a slight frown on his face.

“Yeah, Hal.” Tom’s brow furrows. “How did ya know?”

“Oh, I, er, I asked the young lady, Natasha? I asked her about him, and she told me he’s… not at work at the moment,” Carl rushes out. He is clearly nervous about something, and it makes alarm bells ring at the back of Tom’s mind. The last thing they need is another unstable vampire.

“Right,” Tom says, then turns back to Pedro. “So, I take it you’re lookin’ for somewhere to go to change.”

Pedro clears his throat. “That’s correct. Are there any safe places nearby? This place seems very… densely populated.”

Tom gives a small frown. “I guess, compared to Brazil. But yeah, there’s plenty of safe places out in the woods, I used to always go there before I got me cellar. And, well, now that Hal is… basically, I’m back to goin’ to the woods. So I can take ya with me, no problem. I could show ya now, if ya want.”

Suddenly, Carl’s head snaps up, and, if at all possible, he goes even paler. Tom follows his gaze to see none other than Dominic Rook walk into the hotel lobby. He doesn’t seem to have noticed them in the corner as he walks up to the reception desk in quick strides. Tom frowns and excuses himself, walking around the back of the desk and lifting his eyebrows at Rook.

“Can I help ya?” he asks, seeing Rook’s eyes widen as he recognises him.

“Tom,” he says in greeting. “Yes, I… I’d like to rent a room for an hour, please,” he says.

Tom narrows his eyes at him. “For an hour? What’s this about, Rook?”

Rook swallows and looks at him with big eyes. “Are we back to ‘Rook’ again, Tom?”

“Sorry, Dominic. Still gettin’ used to it,” he says sheepishly.

Dominic gives him a small smile. “Don’t worry about it, Tom. To answer your question, I’ve got a… business transaction to make. Top secret, I’m afraid.”

Tom looks at him for a long moment. There is something fishy about this, he just knows it. But who is he to argue with the newly reinstated head of the Department of god knows what. “Fair enough,” he says, and checks the guest register. “Room 16,” he says after a moment, holding out the key. “It’s—”

“I know where it is, thanks, Tom,” Dominic says quickly, and Tom swears he can see the ghost of a blush on the man’s cheeks. This is all very odd.

“All right,” says Tom, but Dominic has already turned his back and is walking in the direction of the stairs. With a minute shake of his head, Tom walks back over to the two men in the corner. “Sorry ‘bout that,” he says.

“Oh, no, don’t worry,” says Carl with a small, tense smile. “Business comes first.”

“Thanks,” Tom says, then looks at Pedro. “So, as I was sayin’, I can show ya where we’re gonna go, if ya want.”

“No, I don’t think that’s necess—”

“I think you should go,” Carl suddenly blurts out, smiling at Pedro. “Get a feel of the place before… you know.”

Pedro gives his partner a thoughtful look. “I’m not sure, carinho. I mean, there’s still plenty of time to have a look around.” Looking back at Tom, he adds, “Are you even sure you are free now? You seem to be at work.”

“Oh, yeah, but I can disappear for an hour or so, no problem. I’ll get Tasha to cover, she won’t mind.”

“Go,” Carl says with a smile to Pedro.

Pedro’s brows furrow. “You don’t want to come?”

“No, love,” Carl says, shaking his head. “I think I might have a little afternoon nap. I’m still not over the lack of sleep on the ship, I’m afraid.”

“If you’re sure, carinho,” Pedro replies. Then, turning towards Tom, he adds, “Okay then, shall we go?”

“Yeah, let’s go,” Tom agrees, and the two of them make their way towards the exit, while Carl walks in the direction of the staircase. Just as they are about to part ways, Tom sees Captain Hatch emerge from the dining room and drive his wheelchair past the small group, giving them a curious look and a smile.

“You off out?” he says to Pedro.

“Yes,” Pedro replies. “Just going to have a look around town.”

“Oh, well, don’t let me keep you,” Hatch says, and drives on in the direction of his room.

“I’ll see you later, carinho,” says Pedro, giving Carl a quick peck on the lips, and follows Tom out of the doors and into the bright sunshine outside.

***

“Thank you, Mr Rook,” Carl says, wiping his mouth with a paper tissue while Dominic places an adhesive dressing over the two small wounds in his neck. He came prepared this time.

Buttoning up his shirt and straightening his tie, Dominic looks over at the vampire, who looks back at him with big, dark eyes. “I hope that was satisfactory,” Dominic says, doing his best to ignore his racing heart and the buzz of endorphins in his system. He has to stay professional. He can’t let himself go like that again.

“More than satisfactory,” the vampire confirms with a firm nod.

“Good,” Dominic says, mustering a small smile. “I’ve brought you this as well,” he hands over a flask of blood with a surprisingly steady hand. “Hopefully that should last you another… three days?”

“Yes,” Carl says, taking the flask from him. “I would think so. Thank you.”

Dominic frowns. Three days will take them to the 21st – the night of the full moon. He is not sure what Carl’s partner is planning to do, but they will have to plan carefully to fit in their… meeting… around Pedro’s schedule. Dominic knows from experience that werewolves can become rather irritable when approaching a full moon, and he doesn’t want to get Carl into any kind of trouble.

He is just about to ask about Pedro’s plans for the full moon night, when the loud ringing of his phone interrupts his thoughts. He pulls it out of his pocket reflexively, checking the caller ID.

“I’m sorry, Mr Rook. I’ll be going,” he can hear Carl’s voice from somewhere near the door. He gives the vampire a distracted nod and lifts the phone to his ear.

“Hello,” he says noncommittally, watching the room door close behind Carl before he drops down on the bed and adds, “Sorry, I was in a… meeting. I’m alone now.”

There is a deep chuckle on the other end. “I love calling you at work, you get so wonderfully flustered.”

Dominic feels a stab of guilt in his chest when he thinks about what exactly his ‘work’ entailed for the last ten minutes, but he sticks by what he told Alex. It wouldn’t do anyone any favours if Hal knew. Making sure he puts a smile into his voice, he says, “It’s good to hear from you, Hal.”

“Hmm, yes, I thought I’d try out this new phone you gave me. Seeing as I can’t seem to convince you that it would be better for you to just—”

“Don’t, Hal, please,” Dominic says quickly. “We’ve spoken about this. I’m not going to give up on you so easily.”

“No,” Hal says, sounding thoughtful. “You’ve always been too stubborn for your own good.”

Something about the way Hal says it puts a smile on Dominic’s face. “How have you been?” he asks, remembering the state Hal was in the last time they spoke, well over a week ago now.

“I’ve stopped vomiting, if that’s what you’re referring to,” Hal says. “But other than that, same old, I’m afraid. Hallucinations have got a bit less, thank god, and it’s been nice to stretch out to sleep, but I still get… cravings.”

Dominic nods, swallows, thinks, _I could help you with that._ Out loud, he says, “I’m sorry to hear that Hal. I suppose those will take a while to get better.”

“They never fully go away, not anymore,” Hal says. “I just have to get to a point where I can control them.”

Dominic sighs. “I understand.”

“What about you?” Hal says then, clearly keen to change the subject. “What have you been up to?”

Dominic lets out a little nervous laugh. “Oh, you know, the usual. Lots of paperwork, mostly. There actually isn’t all that much supernatural activity around here anymore since the Old Ones were destroyed, and Hatch has been… almost a little bit too quiet, to be honest.”

“Mmm,” Hal replies. “So what was your meeting about?”

“I… I’m sorry, Hal, I’m not allowed to talk about that,” he says lamely, a furious blush rising into his cheeks all the same.

Hal chuckles again. “Top secret, huh? All right then, Mr Rook.” He is quiet for a moment, then adds, “God, I’d like to see you in that suit again.”

Dominic’s eyes widen. Is this actually _his_ Hal saying that? The one that, a little over a week ago, told him in no uncertain terms that they would never be able to see each other again? Then, another thought enters his mind, and it is more than a little disconcerting.

_Does it really matter?_

Dominic halts for a moment, going over that thought again. Of course it matters, how could it not? That other creature is not really Hal, and he has no desire to ever speak to him again.

Then, thinking back to the original statement, a smile breaks out on his face, and he says, “I didn’t realise you like it so much.”

Hal lets out a small laugh. “It does look good on you.”

“Well, in that case – say a time, and I’ll be there,” Dominic quips, still smiling.

“Dominic. You know we can’t,” Hal says gravely, and his smile dies on his lips.

He lets out a deep sigh. “I know, Hal. I’m sorry.” Then, in an attempt to lighten the mood again, he adds, “I’d suggest a video call, but I suppose it would be a rather one-sided affair.”

Hal laughs. “Yes, that… wouldn’t be very useful. For you, at least.”

Dominic’s brow furrows and he feels a slight flutter in his stomach as an idea comes into his head. “Hal?” he asks.

“Yes?”

“You’re still untied, aren’t you?”

“Yes?” Hal says quizzically, obviously not sure where Dominic is going with this. The flutter in his stomach intensifies, clearly helped by his earlier endorphin rush.

“Well… you already know what I’m wearing,” Dominic says nonchalantly.

Hal clears his throat loudly. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Dominic heaves a frustrated sigh. “You didn't think it was a bad idea last time we did this,” he says before he can stop himself.

Hal is silent for a long moment, and his voice is filled with bitter resentment when he says, “That wasn't me, Dominic. But if you'd rather he came out instead, then I'm sure I can arrange that.”

Dominic’s eyes widen. “No, Hal, of course that's not what I want. I want to share this with you.” He takes a deep breath and continues, “Remember the first time we had sex, in the hotel? How terrified I was the next morning? Do you remember what you told me, Hal?”

“Dominic—” Hal cuts in, but Dominic doesn’t let him finish.

“You said I have to allow myself to feel,” he says, reliving that moment in his head. “And then you asked me what I wanted. Remember?”

Hal sighs on the other end. “Yes, I remember.”

“What do _you_ want, Hal?”

Hal once again doesn’t speak for a long time, and for one terrifying moment, Dominic thinks that he has gone too far, that he has driven him away. But then, Hal lets out a quiet laugh and speaks up again, “I want to get you out of that suit.”

Dominic’s brow furrows. “Wait. You think it looks good on me, so you want to get me out of it?”

Hal chuckles harder. “Isn't that usually the case?”

Dominic smiles. “I suppose.” Hal falls silent once again, and Dominic continues, “All right, so, you want to undress me.”

“Yes.”

“Tell me, Hal,” he prompts. “Tell me what you would do to me.”

“Dominic,” Hal protests.

“Hal,” he replies. “Just… close your eyes and do it. It’s all right. You can’t hurt me like this.”

That seems to finally do it, and a moment later he can hear Hal’s voice, raspy and low, saying, “You’re standing in front of me in your grey suit. The jacket is unbuttoned, so I push it off your shoulders, and it lands in a pile on the floor. I run my hands up your shirt sleeves until I get to your neck, and I grab hold of your tie and pull you towards me for a kiss.”

“Hmm, I’d like that,” Dominic says, closing his own eyes as he pictures the scene. “You haven't shaved yet, have you?”

Hal lets out a soft laugh. “You really like that beard, don't you?”

“Hmm,” Dominic gasps out in confirmation.

Hal chuckles again before continuing, “We kiss for a long time, and then I undo your tie, leave it hanging loosely around your neck as I start opening the buttons on your shirt. I slowly work my way down, exposing that gorgeous skin, and when I get to the bottom, I run my hands back up your chest, and I feel goose bumps rising on your skin.”

“Your hands are cold,” Dominic throws in. “It makes a shiver run down my spine. I bring up my own hands, hook them under the hem of your t-shirt, and pull it over your head.”

“Yes,” Hal says, sounding slightly breathless. “I push the shirt and waistcoat off your shoulders, leaving them on the floor with your jacket, and I run my hands up and down your chest, rubbing over your nipples. You feel so warm under my fingers.”

Dominic finds his own hand unbuttoning his shirt without him even consciously thinking about it, and he runs his hand over his naked skin. A long, ragged gasp escapes him as his hand makes contact with his left nipple.

He can hear Hal chuckle on the other end. “You enjoying yourself over there?”

“Yes,” he croaks. “You should try it, it’s good.”

Hal’s voice is deep and seductive when he says, “Who says I’m not?” Dominic lets out a little moan at that, making Hal chuckle again. “Now,” he continues. “Where were we? Oh, yes. I run my hands down your chest, until I get to the waistband of your trousers. I look at you and ask you what you would like me to do next.”

Dominic lets out a ragged breath and says, “Yes.”

Hal laughs. “Yes what, Dominic?”

“Yes, undo my trousers. I want to feel you.”

“Mmm, that’s the right answer,” says Hal. “I undo your belt, then the button and zip on your trousers, and I slowly push them down your hips until they pool around your ankles, and you step out of them.”

Dominic’s hand follows Hal’s instruction, undoing his belt and trousers, and he feels a violent rush of arousal as his hand brushes over his growing erection through his underwear. Another small moan escapes his lips, and he repeats the movement. “Oh, Hal,” he gasps.

“Feel good?” Hal asks in that low voice that drives him wild.

“Yes,” he replies.

“Good. So now you’re standing in front of me just in your boxers, and I caress you through the thin fabric, feeling the bulge twitch and harden under my fingers.

“Yes,” Dominic says again, voice barely obeying him.

“And then,” Hal continues, “I push the elastic down to free your cock, and it’s so hard, it’s already leaking… it’s so hot, Dominic, and I’m getting so hard just by looking at you, so I undo the buttons on my own jeans, and I push them down and take out my cock, and I move in closer so it brushes against yours—”

“Hal!” he gasps, prompting a sharp laugh from Hal.

“—and I move against you, rub against that hard length with my own, and I lean in for another kiss, it feels so good…”

Dominic pushes his hand inside his boxers and wraps his hand firmly around his erection, moving up and down in quick, strong movements, and he lets out a broken moan. He can hear Hal whimper slightly on the other end.

“Oh, Dominic, you turn me on so much when you’re like this,” Hal gasps out, then carries on with his narrative, “I reach in between our bodies, and I take both our cocks in my hand, pressing them even closer together, and I feel you shiver against me as I kiss you.”

“Oh god, Hal… please, go on,” Dominic breathes.

“I move my hand up and down, up and down, and it feels so good, Dominic, that friction, and I can feel the precome gathering on both heads, mixing together.”

Dominic can feel himself get impossibly close to the edge, and he stills his hand for a moment, waiting for Hal to catch up.

“And I run my thumb over your tip, and then mine, spreading the wetness around, making it even easier to keep my hand moving up and down, faster, and I watch your face as you fall apart.”

Dominic lets out a loud moan, and he hears it echoed in Hal’s broken whimper on the other end. “You close?” he asks, brain barely functioning enough to form a coherent sentence.

“Yes,” Hal gasps, “I’m…” he drifts off, breathing heavily.

“You touching yourself?” Dominic prompts, hand speeding up again on his own length.

“Yes,” Hal confirms. “Fuck, I want you so much, I want to feel your skin under my fingers, I want to touch you, I…” he drifts off again, and Dominic squeezes his eyes shut as a sudden painful ache spreads in his chest.

“I want that too, Hal.”

“Then come for me,” Hal says. “You’re so beautiful when you come apart like that. I want to hear you, want to picture your face in front of me when I come.”

Dominic lets out an almighty groan, gasps Hal’s name, and spills all over his still moving fingers. He lets himself fall back on the bed, holding the phone close to his ear as through the receiver, he can hear Hal coming undone as well.

“Dominic,” he whispers. “Oh, fuck.”

A wide, slow smile spreads on Dominic’s lips. “Enjoy that?”

Hal lets out a gentle, breathless laugh. “Are you fucking serious?”

“Oh, so it wasn’t good?” Dominic asks innocently, prompting a small huff from Hal.

There is a moment’s silence on the other end. Hal’s voice when he speaks again is quiet and serene and more relaxed than Dominic has heard it for a long time. “God, I love you.”

Dominic closes his eyes, a bright smile on his lips. “I love you too, Hal.”

They lie like that, joint in the afterglow, for a long moment, before Hal suddenly lets out a soft chuckle and says, “Hold on, aren’t you at work?”

A lump forms in Dominic’s throat as he opens his eyes and looks around the plain hotel room. “Ah, don’t worry about that, there’s no one else around.” Nonetheless, a bright blush rises into his cheeks when he thinks about the likelihood of having been overheard from one of the adjacent rooms.

“Still, didn’t think you had it in you,” Hal says with a smile in his voice, and then adds, “Maybe I’ll have to come and visit you at the Archive sometime and we can do the real thing.”

As soon as he has said it, Hal goes deadly silent, obviously realising his mistake. Dominic’s heart skips a beat before a familiar ache settles back into his chest.

“Yes, Hal,” he says seriously. “I’d like that very much.”

“Dominic, I… I’m sorry. Forget what I said. I shouldn’t have let my guard down like that.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Dominic replies with a small smile. “It seems to me that that’s exactly what you needed.”

“Dominic,” Hal says with a sigh. “You're going to be the death of me.”

Dominic's breath catches in his throat. “Don't say that, Hal. Don't ever say that.”

***

Pedro walks into the near-empty dining room, most guests not yet having arrived for their dinner. He glances at his watch. It is five to six. Only two short hours until moonrise. Pedro can feel his skin prickling, the wolf getting restless inside of him. And there is no sign anywhere of Carl.

A small frown creeps into his face as he looks around the room until his eyes fall on Tom, who is busy setting a table at the back of the room. Pedro quickly crosses the room, coming to stand in front of the other werewolf, who looks up and gives him a quizzical look.

“Pedro,” Tom says. “How can I help you?”

Pedro looks at him stormily. “Have you seen Carl?”

Tom shakes his head. “Nah, sorry, mate. Did he go out?”

Pedro’s frown deepens, and he lets out an annoyed breath through his nose. “No, that’s the thing. He didn’t tell me he was going anywhere. I come out of the bathroom, and he’s gone. Ever since we arrived in this accursed place, he’s been acting… strange. Constantly on edge, like suddenly—” he cuts off, takes a look around, notices Captain Hatch sitting at one of the tables, waiting for his dinner to arrive. He lowers his voice and continues, “—like suddenly, he’s always affected by humans around him, you know? He never used to be like this in Brazil.”

Tom frowns. “He’s not… ya know…” he drifts off, hesitating, then adds, “He hasn’t, well…”

Pedro’s eyes go hard. “You mean, is he drinking blood again?” he bites out.

“Yeah, ya know. I had it happen with a friend of mine, and he was exactly the same, like, always on edge an’ actin’ weird an’ stuff,” Tom explains.

Pedro snorts. “Yes, well, Carl is not like your friend. He wouldn’t… he… he would talk to me about it. We don’t keep secrets from each other.”

_Oh, but are you really so sure about that? You’ve been wondering this yourself, haven’t you?_

Tom’s frown deepens. “Maybe he was, like, I dunno… worried ‘bout how you’d react?” he suggests, and Pedro throws him a dangerous glare.

“What are you suggesting?” he growls, and Tom takes a careful step back.

“Nothin’, just thinkin’ out loud is all.”

Pedro feels a surge of anger flare up inside of him. “Well, maybe you shouldn’t get involved in things that are none of your business.”

Tom’s eyebrows fly up. “All right, mate, didn’t mean nothin’ bad,” he says placatingly. “I’ll let ya know if I see ‘im.”

“Thanks,” Pedro says, trying hard to keep himself calm, and he is just about to turn and leave when Tom speaks up again.

“We still on for our… hike… this evenin’?” he asks.

Pedro gives him a quick nod. “Yes, of course. Shall I meet you in the lobby? After dinner?”

“Yeah,” Tom agrees, returning the nod. “I’ve got a couple of chickens in the fridge, should be all right.”

Pedro is not entirely sure why he mentions chickens, but gives him a grateful nod all the same. “Thanks, Tom,” he says, and starts walking towards the exit.

As he walks past Captain Hatch’s table, the Captain looks up and gives him an inviting smile.

“I’m so sorry,” Captain Hatch says, “but I couldn’t help but overhear… you are looking for young Carl?”

“Yes,” Pedro confirms. “Have you seen him, Captain?”

“No, I’m afraid,” Hatch says with a sigh. “Charming young man, he is. And very lucky, too, to have such a loving, devoted partner.”

“I think I’m the lucky one, Captain,” says Pedro, a smile on his face. The smile turns bittersweet when he adds, “If only I knew what’s been going on with him lately.”

“Oh dear, I can sense something is very much troubling you,” Hatch says with a concerned expression in his eyes.

Pedro lets out a deep sigh. “Yes, but… I really shouldn’t take up any more of your time, Captain. It’s… don’t worry about it.”

“Oh, no, really, I’m always happy to listen,” Hatch says and gestures to the empty chair opposite himself. Pedro gives the chair an apprehensive look, but decides that it might help him to talk to someone, and sits down with a heavy sigh.

“It’s just… I feel like there’s something wrong with him, you know,” he explains. “Almost as if he is… hiding something from me. I don’t know.”

“Mmmh,” Hatch says, a pensive expression on his face. “You know, now you’re saying it, I did see him a couple of times… no, never mind.”

Pedro’s head snaps up at his words. “See him where, Captain?”

Captain Hatch lets out a deep sigh, then shakes his head. “Oh, I’m sure it’s nothing.”

Pedro, however, gives him a pleading look and says, “Captain, please, if there is anything you know, I would appreciate it if you told me.”

Captain Hatch looks down at the table then, heaving another sigh. “I’ve seen him a couple of times, disappearing into another one of the hotel rooms.”

“What?” gasps Pedro. _What is he talking about?_

Hatch continues, “Yes, and he stays in there for a little while, and when he comes out, he looks… different.”

“Different how?” Pedro asks, a deep frown forming on his face.

Captain Hatch looks up at him, looks him straight into the eye, and Pedro feels all blood drain from his face as he holds his gaze. “All I can say is that a short while after he came out, I saw someone else leave the room.”

“Someone else,” Pedro echoes, and he can feel the familiar prickle of rage building up under his skin that he normally only feels once the wolf has come out.

Captain Hatch nods gravely. “A man.”

“A human,” Pedro says without thinking.

“Yes,” Captain Hatch confirms, and Pedro frowns at him. There is something wrong about that response. What is it? He’s not sure.

“I… thank you, Captain,” he says, feeling dazed, like the whole situation is unreal. He gets up, walks a few steps towards the exit, when he hears a familiar voice.

“Pedro,” Carl calls and, looking up, he can see his tall form walking towards him in quick steps. Pedro meets him halfway, and Carl looks at him with a small smile. “Should we sit down?” he asks, gesturing to one of the empty tables.

Pedro takes a seat at the table across from Carl and takes the opportunity to have a closer look at his partner. His eyes narrow as he takes in the slightly dilated pupils, the faint rosiness in his cheeks, the way he carries himself with a little bit more swagger, more self-assurance than usual.

“Where have you been?” he asks, unable to keep the accusation out of his voice.

“I… just went for a quick walk,” Carl says. “I felt a bit claustrophobic in the room by myself, so I thought I’d get some fresh air.” He gives him a disarming smile, and it makes Pedro’s stomach turn.

“Are you sure?” he asks icily. Carl’s brow furrows.

“Yes,” he says with conviction. “Pedro, are you all right? You’re looking really pale. Is it… is it the moon?” he asks quietly, careful not to be overheard.

Pedro lets out another forceful breath through his nose. “No, Carl, it’s not the moon.”

Carl’s face morphs into a full blown frown at the use of his given name. Pedro knows that that would be a dead giveaway, Carl knows that he hates his name, that he never uses it unless he is angry at him. “Pedro, what’s going on?”

“Where have you been?” Pedro asks again, louder. Captain Hatch’s voice echoes in his mind, _Someone else, a man._

“I told you—” Carl starts, but Pedro never lets him finish.

He leaps halfway across the table, grabs Carl by the collar and snarls, “You’ve been meeting your lover, haven’t you? Your human? Tell me, Carl, have you been drinking his blood while you’ve been fucking him?”

Carl’s eyes grow wide and terrified as he looks straight into Pedro’s, clearly seeing the animalistic rage in his own eyes. “What are you talking about?” he whispers.

Not letting go of Carl’s collar, Pedro continues, “Captain Hatch told me. He saw you meet your human slut in one of the other rooms. Did you really think you could get away with this? I don’t even know what I’m more disgusted by, the fact that you’re fucking some random stranger, or that you’re drinking blood again.”

“I haven’t been fucking anyone,” Carl snaps then, and Pedro can see his eyes flash black for a fraction of a second. Good, he’s getting under his skin.

“Oh no?” he asks. “What have you been doing then, tell each other bedtime stories?”

Carl lets out a low growl. “I haven’t been _fucking_ anyone, Pedro. I don’t know what Hatch told you, but it wasn’t…” he trails off as one of the hotel staff, Pedro thinks he remembers her name as Natasha, approaches their table.

“Is everything all right over here?” Natasha asks, eyes darting between the two of them.

Pedro lets go of Carl’s collar, sits back in his chair, throws the girl a fleeting look and says, “We’re fine, thank you.”

“If you’re sure,” Natasha says with a small frown.

“Yes, just fine,” Pedro replies, then narrows his eyes as he looks back at Carl. “My _partner_ here was just telling me all about how he’s been fucking some random human right under my nose and thought he could keep me in the dark about it. Isn’t that right, _carinho_?” He makes sure to put as much malice as he can into the endearment, and once again he can see Carl’s eyes flash black for a fraction of a second.

“I told you, you’ve been misinformed,” Carl says, and Pedro has to give it to him, he knows how to keep his composure. Pedro throws a murderous glare in his direction, and eventually, Carl falters and says, “Okay, yes, I did drink his blood. But I’ve never slept with him.”

Pedro lets out a cold chuckle. “And you expect me to believe that?”

“Yes,” Carl exclaims. “We kissed, once, but that was—”

He never gets to finish what he is saying, as in that moment, Pedro sees red. He lunges once again across the table, grabs Carl’s throat, and squeezes.

“Don’t bother pretending, _Carl_. ‘Kiss’, my arse. I fucking know you fucked him, you don’t have to prove anything to me.”

“I… didn’t…” Carl wheezes past the increasing tightness of Pedro’s hand around his throat.

“Oh, whoah, break it up, guys,” Natasha’s voice sounds from somewhere to his side, but he’s not entirely sure, all he can see is Carl’s eyes bulging out of his head in front of him.

 _Kill, kill, kill,_ the wolf is commanding inside of him, and Pedro can’t help but silently agree.

“No, stop it,” Natasha shouts now, and he can feel a hand on his chest, pushing him away, and then…

And then Carl pounces, all black eyes and a predatory growl, and the next moment he sinks his fangs into the girl’s neck. Pedro stumbles backwards, heart pounding, the wolf clawing at his insides to be let out, and he watches Carl holding the flailing girl in place as he slowly drains the life energy out of her.

It all happens so quickly after that. From behind him, he suddenly notices Tom whirling in at lightning speed, jumping on Carl with an almighty roar. “Get off of her, you dirty animal!” he shouts and wrestles the vampire to the ground. Natasha collapses to the floor next to them, lifeless and pale. Pedro notices too late the wooden stake that somehow made its way into the other werewolf’s hand, and with a flash of horror, he watches as in front of his eyes, Carl, his partner, his lover, his _everything,_ is reduced to a pile of dust.

“No!” he snarls, and throws himself at the other werewolf. “How dare you… you…” he drifts off, deciding to instead finish the sentence with a fist square into Tom’s face.

“Oh, how delightful,” someone says from somewhere behind him, and Pedro has to do his best not to whirl around to whoever thinks his partner’s demise is something to celebrate.

But it was enough to distract him for a short moment, and he hears Tom growl, “He killed ‘er!” before throwing a punch of his own, square into his jaw. Pedro reels from the impact for a second before sending his own fist flying again.

“So it’s an eye for an eye with you, is it?” Pedro shouts in his face. “In that case, get ready to die, arsehole!” He draws back for another punch when somehow, Tom flips them over and ends up on top of him, looking down on him with a pained grimace on his face.

“You’re not gonna get away with this,” Tom shouts, before landing another punch, and another one. Pedro can feel the bones in his nose shatter, and there’s blood pooling in his mouth. The last thing he sees is Tom’s fist coming down on him once more before everything goes black.


	14. The Ritual

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> As promised, here is part 2 of 2.
> 
> The idea for this chapter came to me a long time ago, and it was always part of the plan of what was going to happen, but when it came down to writing it, I almost chickened out. Almost.
> 
> I suppose the chapter title pretty much says it all.
> 
> Please don’t hate me.

If these times should signify my mistakes  
Please give me power  
These are all of my creations  
Leaving me disavowed

\- Interpol, “Twice as Hard”

Alex watches with a furrowed brow as Hal sits cross-legged across from her, building a large domino spiral on the floor between them.

“So it’s back to the dominoes and press-ups and Radio 4 from here, huh?” she asks.

Hal looks up with a small frown on his face. “Of course, Alex. It’s the only way I know to… keep the urges in check.”

Alex sighs. “Hal, have you ever thought that maybe Dominic was on to something? With the bottled blood, I mean?”

Hal’s frown deepens. “No,” he says forcefully, and pointedly looks back at his domino spiral.

“So you’re just…” she pauses with a shrug, then continues after a short moment, “going to give up on your relationship just like that? Because he’s human and it’s not safe?”

“Exactly right, Alex,” Hal says, not even looking up from his dominoes this time.

“But don’t you think that he has some kind of say in that as well?” she presses on.

Hal sighs exasperatedly. “No, Alex, I don’t. Now can you please let me concentrate without your constant nattering?”

“Oh, man, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you were more fun when you were on the blood,” Alex says. “Not _killing_ people, I mean, just…” she trails off as Hal’s head snaps up, eyes boring into her.

“What did you say?”

Alex gives him a wide-eyed look and holds her hands up. “Just an observation, Henry. Keep your laser eyes to yourself, please.”

“Don’t call me that,” Hal snaps, and Alex is taken aback by the cold fury in his voice. It’s a tone of voice she has never heard from Hal before, not even in his evil incarnation, and it sends a shiver down her spine.

“Sorry,” she says quietly, looking at the floor.

Hal lets out a deep sigh and turns back to his domino spiral.

They sit in silence for a good few minutes, before the loud ringing of Alex’s phone interrupts the quiet.

“Hello?” she answers.

“Alex?” Tom sounds frantic on the other end. Alex’s brow furrows.

“Tom? What’s going on?” Hal’s head flicks up at her concerned tone, and he gives her a quizzical look. She puts Tom on speaker and places the phone down on the floor in front of her.

“It’s… it’s Hatch,” Tom says, panting. Alex frowns and opens her mouth, but before she gets a chance to ask the question, Tom continues, “He somehow got Carl and Pedro to attack each other, and Natasha…” he drifts off, and Alex thinks she can hear a sob.

“What about Natasha, Tom?” she asks.

“Carl attacked ‘er,” he says. “I thought she was dead… I…”

“Take a deep breath, Tom,” Alex says, throwing a look at Hal, who is watching the exchange with deep worry lines etched on his face.

“She’s alive,” Tom chokes out, “but only just. I let Hatch believe she was dead, so that he wouldn’t…” he trails off again.

“Tom, you’ve got to tell us what happened, from the beginning,” Hal speaks up.

Tom sighs deeply and says, “Carl and Pedro got into some kinda domestic over Carl havin’ an affair.” Alex’s eyes go wide when she realises exactly what this ‘affair’ most likely involves. Hal throws her a puzzled look, and she quickly averts her eyes. “Natasha tried to break up the fight, an’ then Carl attacked her,” Tom explains. “I staked ‘im, then Pedro jumped on me an’ I had to kill ‘im as well.”

Hal lets out a long breath. “Hatch planned this,” he says quietly, and Alex looks up to meet his eyes.

“Are you sure?” she asks, but even to her, it all sounds a little too convenient to be a coincidence.

Hal nods. “Tom, where is Hatch now?”

“I dunno,” Tom says through the speaker. “He got out of his wheelchair as soon as I was done killin’ Pedro. Just stood up and started walkin’ towards the front doors. There’s… bodies, everywhere. Dunno why he left me alive, to be honest.”

Hal looks straight into Alex’s eyes then, with a look of stony determination on his face. “Alex, we need to do something about this now.”

“Don't you think I fucking know that!” she snaps.

He nods and gets to his feet. “Okay then, let me out, we’re going.”

“Hal—” Alex starts.

“Alex!” he cuts in, standing by the door. “We don’t have time to discuss the details of my recovery. Let me out, for God's sake! You can't complete the ritual without me.”

Alex stares at him, standing by the door, throwing her an expectant look. He is not ready yet, she knows it. But on the other hand, if they really do go ahead with the ritual, he won’t be around for long enough to really cause any damage.

“Whatever you do, guys, do it quickly. I’ve got about half an hour before I transform,” Tom reminds them, and Alex’s eyes widen.

“All right, then,” she says. “Hang in there, Tom, we’ll see you soon.” Then she cuts the connection and looks through her contacts for another number.

“What are you doing?” Hal asks, eyes flicking between her face and her hand holding the phone.

She gives him an exasperated look. “I’m calling Dominic.”

Hal’s eyes widen. “What? Why?”

“Because he has a right to know, Hal,” she says with a sigh.

Hal slowly shakes his head. “No, don't, Alex, please.”

She looks at him for a moment, then decides that there is no time for this, holds up her free hand as if to hold him off, and dials.

“Alex?” Dominic’s voice sounds through the receiver.

Alex takes a deep breath. “The ritual is going ahead. I'm taking Hal.”

Dominic doesn’t say anything for several seconds, obviously trying to process what she just told him. Then, out of nowhere, he yells, “Oh no you don't!”

She briefly squeezes her eyes shut. “Dominic, we haven't got a choice. Hatch is—”

“I don't care about Hatch,” he cuts in. “You’re not… you’re… you can't… it’s a suicide mission.”

“Yes, Dominic, we are aware of that,” she says, as calmly as she can.

She can hear Dominic take a shaky breath on the other end. “Please, Alex. Please don't.”

“Dominic—” she starts, but he doesn’t let her finish.

“No!” he bellows. “I’m not letting you do this.”

“Dominic, listen!” she shouts, trying desperately to get through to him. They are running out of time. Her voice quietens slightly when she adds, “Once the ritual is done, we need someone there who can finish him off.”

Dominic is silent for a long moment, and his voice is very quiet when he says, “Alex, no. How can you expect me to… after you… and Hal…”

“I know you'll do what's right,” she says and, with a sigh, ends the call. Looking up at Hal, she can see him watching her with a grim look in his eyes that nevertheless betrays the pain and heartbreak he is feeling. “Let’s go,” she says, grabs hold of Hal, and rent-a-ghosts outside.

***

Dominic’s head is spinning to a point of dizziness, and he has to consciously focus his attention to restart the car, do a hundred and eighty degree turn, and step on the accelerator to get him back to Barry.

He was driving along the A4055 somewhere about halfway between Barry and Cardiff when his phone rang. He doesn’t know what made him pull over and answer the call, but at this point in time he is equal parts glad that he did and wishing he never had. What Alex asked him to do… how can he be expected to just stand by and let them do that?

Maybe, Dominic thinks, if he is fast enough, he can get there before the ritual is completed. There must be some other way, there must be…

His foot presses down on the accelerator, and he is aware that he is going about double the speed limit, but thankfully the road is quiet and there is not much holding him up. And what of it if he crashed his car and died? If his friends succeed in their plan, there will be nothing left to live for anyway, and if they don’t, well…

As soon as he drives across the bridge and past the ‘Welcome to Barry’ sign, Dominic starts to feel a strange kind of chill settling in his bones that has nothing to do with his anxiety. The sun stands huge and red in the sky, painting it a pretty pinkish-orange, but all Dominic can see when he stares out of his windscreen and onto the still landscape beyond, is blood and death. He slows the car down when he approaches the town centre, and his eyes widen as he takes in the bodies lying across the pavements, cars crashed into streetlights, buildings or each other, or sitting abandoned while their former occupants lie dead in the street, throats slit and heads cracked open and sharp objects sticking out of bleeding chests.

All around him, Dominic can feel ghostly presences, can hear voices calling out in terror, and he stops the car and squeezes his eyes shut, desperate to block out those voices that threaten to make his head explode.

He stumbles out of the car and continues his journey on foot – where to, he isn’t even sure. In a daze, he pulls out his phone, calls Hal’s number.

“Dominic,” Hal answers on the first ring.

“Hal, where are you?” he asks, his voice robotic, emotionless, remote.

“We’ve just caught up with Tom, he’s followed Hatch from the hotel in the direction of the town centre. We’re heading down Holton Road, basically following a trail of bodies,” Hal says grimly.

Dominic swallows. “Okay. I… just got here, I’ll try and catch up with you.” He takes a deep breath and adds, “Hal, listen—”

“Dominic. I know what you’re about to say, but we have to stop him. If we don’t, there won’t be a world left for you and me to live in, do you understand?”

Dominic closes his eyes, forces his breaths past the lump in his throat. “Yes, Hal.”

“I love you,” Hal says, and Dominic feels the prickle of tears in the corners of his eyes.

“I love you too, Hal,” he breathes, then puts the phone down and sets off in a run down the road that brings him closer to the others.

The voices of ghosts all around him are getting louder the closer he comes to the town centre, and Dominic keeps himself going, setting one foot in front of the other, not paying any mind to the bodies lying all around him.

“I can’t help you!” he shouts out into the empty street, and a few of the voices halt, and Dominic can feel their presences circling around him, if anything paying him more attention, not less.

Then he can hear a familiar voice amongst all the unknown ones.

“There he is, guys, I can see him!” Alex shouts from somewhere to his right, and Dominic whips around to see Hal and Tom running down the road in the direction of the town hall, some fifty yards away from him.

Dominic is about to shout out to them, but he feels his throat constrict as he watches the two of them slowing to a walk, then stopping and looking up at the form of Captain Hatch, who stands up, leaning on a walking stick that looks like it’s used more for effect than anything else, and regards them with an arrogant smile.

“Oh, the irony,” Hatch says, shaking his head slowly. “So I wait all this time for a new werewolf and vampire to arrive at the hotel once the trinity is finally disbanded, and what do I find? You, just hiding away in their cellar, waiting for your chance to strike. You just can’t stay away, can you?” Dominic watches as Hatch fixes his eyes on Hal, who stares back at him defiantly.

“Apparently not,” Hal replies coldly. “I swore to destroy you once, and I’ve come back to finish the job.”

Hatch lets out a cold, harsh laugh. “You’re awfully sure of yourself, aren’t you, Lord Harry?”

“And why should I not be?” says Hal, eyeing Hatch with obvious disdain. “Look at you, old man. Is that fear I can see in your eyes? You know, don’t you? You know that there is no way out of this for you.”

“So you are actually willing to sacrifice yourselves for the _greater good_?” Hatch scoffs. “Pathetic. Despicable. I created you monsters to wreak havoc upon the Earth, not to _save_ it.”

“Well, in that case,” Tom speaks up, “ya shouldn’t of made us care ‘bout people.”

Hatch lets out another harsh laugh. “Oh, your little human girl? I can’t tell you how much her presence has vexed me ever since she installed those cameras in my room. But she is long dead now, isn’t she? Got herself too caught up in the little conflict I created, poor innocent soul.” He turns back to Hal and adds, “As for your boyfriend… he played his part well, I have to give him that, but I feel that he has outlived his usefulness. If he is foolish enough to come back here, he won’t survive the night, I’ll make sure of it.”

 _He hasn’t noticed you,_ a little voice in Dominic’s head speaks up. _Keep in the shadows, as soon as he sees you, you’re dead._

“You won’t lay a finger on him,” Hal says forcefully. “ _I’ll_ make sure of _that_.” Then he pulls something out of his pocket – one of the flasks he gave him, Dominic realises – and brings his wrist up to his mouth, tearing into it with his fangs. He holds his wrist over the flask, and Dominic watches as if paralysed as the bright red liquid trickles into the flask.

_They are really doing it. They are doing it. You have to do something, you have to stop them._

But Dominic finds that he is rooted to the spot, standing in the shadow of a large tree, unable to move, forced to watch as Hal wordlessly hands the flask over to Tom, who pulls out a small knife and drives it into his own wrist, adding his blood to Hal’s in the flask.

“Here,” Tom says and holds the flask out to where Dominic can feel Alex’s presence.

“Well then,” he hears Alex’s voice ring out loud and clear, and he watches as she lifts the flask up as if in a toast. “Cheers, guys.”

The world seems to go into slow motion after that. Dominic’s eyes widen in horror as he sees the flask tilt, the blood flowing out and dripping onto the pavement below, and then, several things happen simultaneously.

Captain Hatch, a moment before standing up proudly and surely, falls to the floor as if his legs just give way, and he clutches his chest, breathing heavily, an enraged roar tearing out of his throat.

Hal and Tom both collapse to the floor as well, wheezing and clutching their throats, and Dominic finally manages to shake himself out of his stupor and starts running forwards, but the movement is slow, as if he is moving through treacle, and he has to fight for each step that takes him closer to Hal’s fallen form, before finally dropping to his knees at Hal’s side.

Next to him, he can feel Alex’s presence flicker and fade, and he casts his eyes around helplessly, reaches out for Hal’s hand and holds on for dear life. He opens his mouth to speak, but his throat closes up and no sound comes out.

 _No no no no no no no no no no no no no,_ repeats itself endlessly inside his head.

An almighty scream tears through the air then, and Dominic whirls around just in time to see Tom, on his hands and knees, back arching and screaming in agony as the transformation takes hold. Dominic can see his clothes ripping, bones reforming, muscles stretching and bulging and fur sprouting on his skin as the beast takes over Tom’s body. He screams and screams and then grows silent, and for a moment, he stands perfectly still. Then the monster throws its head back in the direction of the rising moon and let's out a bone-chilling howl.

Dominic isn't fast enough to tear his eyes away as the wolf straightens up, and he ends up staring straight into the monstrous yellow eyes. He shakes his head ever so slightly, but he still doesn't manage to get a word out, so he just stares on as the creature takes a slow step towards him, growling low in its throat. Dominic swears he can feel his heart stop in that moment. Is this how it is going to end? With him being torn apart by a werewolf? The wolf circles around himself and Hal, helpless on the floor, for a long moment, then it takes a long, deep sniff, shakes itself and runs off in the opposite direction.

Dominic lets out an involuntarily breath, and when he looks back down at Hal, he can see him staring straight into his eyes, even as he is writhing and gasping for breaths. He squeezes his hand harder, wanting to say, _Stay with me,_ and, _I love you,_ and, _I don't want to go on without you,_ but still his vocal cords don't obey him.

And then he looks on in horror as Hal’s skin starts to crack and break as if he is made of sand, and he finds that he can’t breathe, and his chest is on fire from the lack of oxygen.

_No, Hal, no no no no no no no no no no…_

But it’s too late. Hal’s eyes, once so warm and full of life, glaze over as deep black cracks spread across his face and body, and Dominic’s vision blurs as he watches drops of water land on Hal’s form, leaving deep craters where there was once firm and supple skin. Where is the water coming from? Is it raining? But it’s a clear night, the moon is standing bright and round in the sky, illuminating the scene.

And then, Hal’s hand in his own starts to disintegrate, and a moment later the rest of his body follows, leaving only a small, insignificant pile of dust in its wake. Dominic’s hand reaches out and grasps a handful of the fine grey dust, letting it run through his fingers, not fully comprehending what is happening. Why does his chest hurt so much? Why can’t he see properly? And why the fuck is it still raining?

Slowly, ever so slowly, the reality of the situation comes back to him, and Dominic straightens up, gulps in a deep, painful breath, and takes in the scene around him.

Captain Hatch is still lying on the floor, awkwardly holding himself up on one elbow, his other arm flung across his abdomen and clutching his chest. He looks at Dominic with a mixture of fear and loathing in his eyes.

“Look at this,” he rasps, “we had the werewolf, the vampire and the ghost, and now here you are, the human, come to finish me off.” He pauses, takes a deep, wheezy breath. “I didn’t believe that it was really true, what I felt in your heart that night at the hotel. I guess I just couldn’t fathom why you would choose those cursed beings over me.”

Dominic’s eyes burn as he slowly stands up and takes a step towards the old man on the floor. “I wouldn’t expect a being of pure evil to grasp the concept of love,” he says coldly, and Hatch lets out a harsh cackle. Dominic narrows his eyes at him and adds, “They were more deserving than you ever were.”

“I created them,” Hatch croaks. “They were _my_ creatures.”

“No.” Dominic shakes his head. “They had to bear the burden of your curses, but that never made them yours. They were people first and foremost. That’s why they won.”

He reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out his father’s revolver, aims it at the defenceless man.

“So you’re really going to do it, are you? You’re going to kill me.”

“Of course,” Dominic says darkly. “That’s why I’m here.”

Hatch straightens up slightly then, sits back against the brick wall behind him. His chest rises and falls heavily with each laboured breath. “Go ahead then,” he says, eyes boring straight into Dominic. “Pull the trigger. Get it over with.”

Dominic steadies his hand holding the gun, points it straight at the man’s head, and his finger twitches on the trigger. The world seemingly stands still for a long moment, and then a thought invades Dominic’s mind.

“No,” he says, and watches Hatch’s eyes widen in surprise. “You’re going to do something for me first.”

“What can I possibly do for you now?” Hatch says innocently. “I’m nothing but an old man, robbed of all my powers by your friends’ silly little ritual.”

“I don’t believe that,” Dominic says firmly, shaking his head once.

“So, what do you want?” Hatch asks breathlessly. “Money? Power? Eternal life?”

Dominic laughs harshly. “I want you to open a Door for me.”

Hatch’s face darkens for a moment before he lets out a deep, raucous laugh. “A Door? I don’t think you quite understand how this works, _human_. You have to die first to be able go through a Door. And it appears all on its own, you won’t need my help for that.”

Dominic shakes his head. “No, I have no intention of dying.” He pauses, then enunciates every word very carefully when he adds, “You are going to open a Door for me. Here. Now.”

“You still don’t get it, do you?” Hatch croaks. “It won’t be any good for you. You won’t even be able to see it, much less pass through it.”

Dominic gives him a grim smile. “You’re the Devil. Are you seriously trying to tell me there’s something you can’t do?”

Hatch looks at him intently for a moment. “Even if I could, and I’m not saying that I can, why would I do that, Mr Rook?” he asks eventually.

“Because,” Dominic says, then takes a deep breath and continues, “You do this for me, Hatch, and I will let you go.”

“To live out the rest of my days in this broken body?” Hatch snarls.

“It’s that, or dying here and now by my hand. Your choice.”

Dominic looks Hatch straight in the eyes, and the old man stares back at him, a calculating look in his eyes. “Deal,” he rasps after a long moment of silence.

“Deal,” Dominic agrees.

Hatch looks up at him for a moment with a furrowed brow, then shuts his eyes, and when he opens them again, they are glowing red.

Dominic lowers the hand holding the gun, and his heart speeds up impossibly in his chest as Hatch lifts his head skyward, and a moment later Dominic feels his head explode with a burst of white-hot pain. He doubles over, clutching his head and groaning in agony, and he can feel something warm and wet trickle from his nostrils and pool on his upper lip. He wipes a finger across the wetness and brings it to his mouth, tasting copper on his tongue.

The next moment, there is a mighty gust of wind and, before his eyes, a door appears in the side of the red brick building in front of him. Dominic’s eyes widen as he takes in the faint glow of light escaping through the cracks between the door and frame.

“You do realise, Mr Rook,” Hatch rasps with a small, wicked smile on his lips, “that this is going to cost you?”

“Not as much as it’s going to cost you,” Dominic says, and lifts the revolver again, pointing it straight at Hatch. “Thank you very much for the Door,” he says with a grim smile.

“I thought you said we had a deal,” Hatch gasps, eyes fixed on the gun in Dominic’s hand.

“I lied,” Dominic says, and pulls the trigger.


	15. Through the Door

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AKA Dominic's Adventures in Purgatory...
> 
> As always, thank you for reading :)

First step through the door  
And I've been here once before  
Back then in control  
Held tight in my hands  
And I threw it all away  
To glimpse the other side

\- Hell Is for Heroes, “Transmit Disrupt”

Dominic feels the recoil in his hand as the gunshot rings out, and he stares, wide-eyed, as Captain Hatch’s lifeless body crumples onto the floor in front of him, eyes wide open and a gaping hole in his forehead, oozing blood.

He forces a few deep breaths in and out against the lingering tightness in his chest, and he drops the hand holding the revolver, leaving it hanging motionless at his side. His tongue comes out, subconsciously licking away the blood gathering on his lips, and the familiarity of it somewhat grounds him.

But with it also comes another thought that slowly takes over his mind.

_Hal._

_Hal is gone._

_He’s gone._

Dominic lets out a shaky breath and feels fresh tears gathering in his still wet eyes as he slowly looks down at the small pile of dust on the pavement, all that is left of the most beautiful person he has ever known. He shakes his head. No. No, this is not how it is going to be. He will go through the Door, he will brave the afterlife itself, and he will find him and bring him back here. It’s been done before, after all. _But never by a human._

Dominic ignores that last thought, takes another shaky breath, and with great effort tears his eyes away from Hal’s remains and towards the faintly glowing door in the brick wall in front of him. He should probably get a move on. He is not sure how long the Door will stay open for, especially now that Hatch is… dead.

It feels surreal to him, that the greatest evil mankind has ever known is just _gone_ like that, with a well-placed gunshot wound to the head. But Dominic is not going to second-guess the evidence that is so clearly laid out in front of him in the form of Hatch’s dead body.

With a trembling hand, he reaches out and depresses the door handle, and a cold shiver runs through him as it gives under light pressure, and the door starts swinging outwards. The light shining through from beyond is almost blinding him, and he squints to try and see where he is going, but to no avail. Closing his eyes completely against the painful brightness, he steps over the threshold.

Almost immediately, he can feel several presences closing in on him, and he opens his eyes to find himself in a barren corridor, in front of him three men with pale eyes, rotten teeth and sickly complexions, staring at him with a mixture of wonder and apprehension.

“You are not supposed to be here,” the middle one of them speaks, and his voice is raw and deep, with a quality that makes a chill run down Dominic’s spine.

“I’m looking for someone,” Dominic says calmly, although his heart is hammering wildly in his chest as he takes in the strange, forbidding instruments in the men’s hands that remind him of lassos and dog catch poles.

 _The men with sticks and rope,_ his scientific mind reminds him. Of course, he has read so much about them. The nightmare creatures of his childhood. Here they are, standing right in front of him.

“You are not supposed to be here,” the man just repeats, as if he didn’t hear him at all.

Dominic clears his throat, says again, louder, “I’m only here to look for someone. I won’t be bothering you for long.”

“Who are you looking for?” the man says then, leaning in and giving Dominic what he can only describe as a _sniff._ He recoils automatically, and the man steps back after a moment, a deep grimace on his face.

“Two people, actually,” Dominic says tensely. “They must have only just arrived, I’m sure—”

“Lots of people just arrived,” the man on his right speaks up, and Dominic’s head whips around to look at him. The man is giving him a menacing grin, and Dominic can’t help but notice that one of his front teeth is missing. “Must have been some kind of disaster.”

“Yes,” says Dominic before he can stop himself. “You could say that.”

The man gives him a piercing look. “You know something,” he states, and then, “Tell us.”

“It… was… the Devil,” Dominic says hesitantly.

“The Devil?” The man on his left barks out, and Dominic quickly turns in his direction. This one is slightly taller and broader than the other two, and he has what looks like a small ulcer on his cheek, slowly oozing black liquid. Dominic has to conscious tear his eyes away from it even as he feels his stomach turn slightly at the sight.

“Yes,” he says with a brisk nod, eyes flicking between all three of the men. They are all frowning now, seemingly deep in thought. The middle one once again steps forward and gives Dominic another quick sniff.

“He speaks the truth,” he says. “He is gone.”

“The Devil is gone?” asks the man on the right.

“Yes, he is,” Dominic confirms. Eyes once more roaming over the three grim faces in front of him, he takes a gamble and quietly adds, “I killed him.”

All three men take in a sharp breath completely simultaneously, and their eyes widen as they regard Dominic, the strange creature who claims to have defeated their master.

“I can sense the truth in what you say,” the man in the middle speaks again, but he sounds unsure now, like the notion is to extraordinary to be believed, and Dominic feels like there might be a hint of some other emotion in his voice. Is it relief?

Dominic nods, feeling encouraged by the men’s reaction to his revelation. “Yes. And the two people I’m looking for were also involved in defeating him. I reckon that that should warrant their immediate release back to the other plane, wouldn’t you agree?” He swallows compulsively, the only sign he lets on of how nervous he is really feeling.

The man in the middle frowns. “That is not our decision. You will have to speak to the administrators.” His face goes dark when he says the word ‘administrators’, and Dominic’s eyes narrow fractionally as he notices a possible dissension in the ranks. Interesting.

Dominic clears his throat and asks, “Can you show me the way?”

“You are not supposed to be here. You can’t go any further,” the man says now, and raises his stick in Dominic’s direction, who takes an involuntary step back and raises his hands.

“You just said I need to speak to the administrators,” he says calmly, eyes fixed on the instrument in the man’s hand.

“Come back when you’re ready,” the man says, and gives Dominic a chilling smile.

 _When you’re ready._ It doesn’t take Dominic long to understand the meaning behind those words. _When you’re dead._

But he doesn’t have that kind of time.

“No,” he says, shaking his head, but already he can feel all the bravado and confidence he felt in front of Hatch wither and die when faced with these horrible creatures that are closing in on him, slowly herding him backwards, towards the door that is still slightly ajar behind him. His way out, if he wishes to take it. He clears his throat. “No,” he says again, louder, “I need to find my friends first.”

“You are not—”

“I just killed your boss,” Dominic says in a last, desperate attempt to get the men to cooperate with him. “I think I deserve a little bit more respect from you.”

His heart is racing relentlessly and his chest is heaving with fast, heavy breaths, but he stands his ground, eyes looking back and forth between the three men in front of him. And slowly, he can see them lowering their weapons and, giving each other furtive glances, taking a step back from him. Dominic takes a deep breath in the newly created space.

“I take it that’s a yes?” he asks.

“Follow me,” says the man in the middle. He turns around and starts walking down the corridor. Dominic takes a few careful steps forwards and jumps when he hears the door falling shut behind him. He quickly turns around to reassure himself that it is still there, and lets out a relieved breath to see that it hasn’t disappeared. “Keep up,” the man calls from further along the corridor, and Dominic finds himself breaking into a light jog to catch up with him.

Looking left and right, Dominic notices different kinds of doors at regular intervals, and he wonders briefly whether these are all different people’s Crossover Doors.

“No,” the man says in front of him, and Dominic’s eyes widen as he realises he must have read his thoughts. “This is your corridor.”

Dominic swallows. “So what is behind these doors?”

“Nothing,” the man says, without stopping or turning around to him. “It’s not ready yet.”

Dominic frowns, but decides against prying any further. They continue along the corridor in silence for a while, before Dominic speaks up again. “So, the people you are taking me to are the administrators,” he says.

“Yes,” the man confirms.

“So what are you?”

“We are the guardians.”

Dominic nods. “Right.”

He continues to follow the man in silence once more, and before long, he comes to a halt in front of a plain metal door at the end of the corridor. “Go through here,” the man says, gesturing at the door. “But be warned. They will not be pleased by your arrival.”

Dominic lets out a deep breath. “Thank you,” he says. “I will take it from here.” He reaches for the door handle, then takes another quick look to the side, only to see that the man has vanished, and he finds himself standing alone in the corridor.

Heart beating wildly once more, Dominic’s hand turns the door handle, and he steps through into a room that could not be more different from the quiet, eerie corridor outside.

Dominic’s eyes wander in astonishment over what is essentially a vast open-plan office, with cubicles full of people writing away furiously on old-fashioned typewriters. Modern technology apparently hasn’t found its way into the afterlife yet. Along the sides of the room, there are large waiting areas with uncomfortable looking wooden benches, which are absolutely packed with people. So packed, in fact, that a large proportion of them isn’t sitting on the benches at all, but standing up and crowding into the spaces in between, like on a rush hour train into the City.

Dominic’s eyes scan over the people in the nearest waiting area to where he has come in, but he can’t make out Hal or Alex anywhere.

“Take a number and take a seat,” a harsh voice says to his left. “Or, well, find a space. It’s a bit crowded today.”

Dominic whirls around and takes in a grim looking elderly woman standing next to a ticket dispenser on the wall. When their eyes lock, he can see hers widen in alarm.

“What are you doing here?” she asks brusquely.

Dominic sighs and says, “I’m looking for someone. The guardians brought me here.”

“Ha,” the woman bellows. “People turning up before their time’s up? Whatever next?”

“I’m not here to stay,” Dominic explains patiently. “I’m just trying to find someone, and then I’ll be on my way again, honestly.”

The woman frowns. “Well then, take a number and wait to speak to someone. I’ll leave it up to them to decide what to do with you.”

Dominic takes a ticket from the dispenser. It reads _W986_. “How long will I have to wait?” he asks.

The woman shrugs. “At the current rate, I’d say probably about five days.”

“Five days!” Dominic exclaims, eyes widening. “I haven’t got that long.”

“Sorry, sweetheart, can’t help you, I’m afraid,” the woman says, then turns away from him, and Dominic realises that a small queue has started up behind him. Bewildered, he steps away from the door and further into the room, towards the closest waiting area. He will just have to go looking for Hal and Alex himself. They must be somewhere in this room, he is sure of it.

Stepping through the crowd of waiting people, Dominic feels a strange chill settling in when he realises that all of them are, in fact, ghosts. Ghosts of people that recently died, a large number of them probably as a result of the Devil’s rampage in Barry. Dominic feels a stab of guilt all of a sudden. It was his job to monitor Hatch and prevent this kind of thing from happening. But he has been to self-absorbed of late to even fully comprehend what has been going on right in front of him. While he doesn’t yet have all the puzzle pieces to fully understand what led to the Devil’s sudden ascent, he is fairly certain he should have been able to do something about it if he had paid more attention.

 _This is exactly why you always thought that getting yourself emotionally attached would be a bad idea,_ a little voice in his head speaks up. _And now look at the mess you have got yourself into as a result of it._

Looking around himself, Dominic can’t help but silently agree. The ghosts’ faces are looking back at him in wonder as he walks amongst them, and they move out of the way wordlessly to let him through. Mostly, anyway.

“Who are you then?” one of them calls, and elbows his way through the crowd to stand in front of him. “You in charge here?”

“No,” Dominic says, shaking his head.

“What are you doing here then?” the ghost asks. “You’re not like us.”

“No, I’m not,” Dominic confirms, then adds, “I’m looking for two friends of mine, perhaps you have seen them. One is like you, the other… slightly different.”

“Like you?” the ghost asks.

“No, not like me. He’s a… a vampire.”

The ghost barks out a laugh. “Ha. Vampire indeed. You’re all loonies in here, the lot of you.”

Dominic clears his throat. “I’m serious. I take it you haven’t seen them?”

The ghost shakes his head, frowning. “No, I haven’t seen your _vampire_. Now get out of my face before I—”

“Dominic?”

The voice rings through the racket of the large open room, and he latches onto it like a lifeline. Scanning the crowd in the direction that he heard it from, he finally lays eyes on a familiar young woman in a short green dress and a leather jacket.

“Alex!” he calls out in relief, and the next moment, Alex has launched herself at him, enveloping him in a bear hug.

“Oh my god, Dominic, what are you doing here?” she asks, head buried in his shoulder. He brings up his own hands to awkwardly rub her back. He has never been very good at hugs.

“I’m here to save you,” he says quietly, eyes scanning the crowd of ghosts that have gathered in a circle around them.

“You’re… you’re dead,” she all but whispers into his shoulder.

He shakes his head. “No. I’m just visiting.”

Alex pulls away from the hug and looks at him with a furrowed brow. “What do you mean, _visiting_?”

He takes a deep breath and explains, “I’m still alive, Alex. I… sort of persuaded Hatch to open a Door for me, and I—”

“You _what_?” she roars.

“I persuaded Hatch to open a Door for me, so I could come and rescue you and Hal,” he says calmly, looking at her with big eyes.

“How did you do that?”

Dominic’s brow creases. “I… asked him?”

Alex lets out a shrill laugh. “Yeah, and he just… did that for you, out of the goodness of his heart, without asking for anything in return?”

“Well… not exactly,” Dominic concedes, looking down, and he can hear Alex’s breath hitch.

“What did you offer him?”

He looks up and sees her frowning at him, her eyes stormy and piercing into his. “I told him I would let him go.”

“Dominic!” she exclaims. “How… how could you? What were you—”

“I didn’t actually _do_ it,” he says quickly, and she huffs.

“So, what? You lied to him?”

“Yes.” He nods.

Alex’s frown deepens. “You lied to the Devil. And he actually bought it?”

He shrugs. “Looks like it. He’s dead.”

Alex lets out a relieved sigh. “Thank god for that. At least we didn’t all die for nothing. I mean, pass over for nothing. You know what I mean.”

Dominic gives her a small, sad smile. “I do. But, Alex, that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. I’m here to… to bring you back. You and Hal.”

She narrows her eyes at him. “Bring us back?”

He nods. “I don’t think it was right for you to die like that.”

“So you don’t think this was my unfinished business?” Alex asks, and he shakes his head.

“Definitely not. You didn’t get your Door, did you? You just… disappeared. I could feel it.”

He notices small shudder run through Alex at his words. “Yeah. It was… weird, like I was just floating away into nothingness. And then I turned up here, and was asked to take a bloody number.”

Dominic lets out a small laugh. “You too, huh?”

But Alex doesn’t laugh with him. Or react in any other way to what he said. Instead, she narrows her eyes at him again, regarding him with a serious expression on her face. “What did Hatch do to you, Dominic?” she asks. “I mean, first of all, how can you see me? I can feel that you’re still alive, but you’re able to see me, and touch me. How is that possible? And how could you even go through the Door? And why the hell is your nose bleeding? Did Hatch punch you or something?”

Dominic can’t help the small chuckle that escapes him. He takes a handkerchief out of his pocket and wipes the remaining trickle of blood away from his nose. “I’m not sure what he did,” he says slowly. “All I remember is that suddenly, I had the worst headache I ever felt in my life, and that was when the nosebleed started. A moment later the Door appeared.”

Alex looks at him darkly. “So Hatch did something to you, and suddenly you can go through Doors and see ghosts and god knows what? This is bad, Dominic.”

He sighs, and gives her a small nod. “I’m aware of that, Alex. But I had to try. It was… the only chance I had… to…” he drifts off, and he once again feels tears prickling in his eyes. He brings up a hand and presses his thumb and forefinger into the corners of his eyes, stopping the tears from escaping.

Alex lets out a small huff. “I should’ve known you wouldn’t be able to just let him go. But this… this is seriously the stupidest thing I have ever heard, Dominic. You haven’t got a clue what he may have done to you.”

“I know,” he says, nodding. After a moment, he adds, “Alex?”

“Yes?”

Taking a deep breath and looking down at his feet, he asks, “Do I still feel… human to you?”

Out of the corner of his eye he can see her nodding vigorously, and he lets out a relieved sigh. “Yes. Definitely. Like, you’re not a vampire or werewolf or something like that.”

He laughs. “No. I guess if I was a werewolf I’d be running around Barry with Tom right now.”

She takes in a sharp breath. “Tom is alive?”

“Yes, he is. He transformed in the middle of… whatever happened to you after the ritual. It must have healed whatever was wrong with him.”

“Oh my god, so he actually made it? Are you sure?”

He nods again. “I saw him run off, after he decided not to attack myself and Hal. For which I am grateful.”

“Bloody hell,” Alex says under her breath.

Dominic lets out another quiet chuckle, then, slowly, something occurs to him. Something that should have been at the forefront of his mind right from the beginning. “Where’s Hal?” he asks carefully.

Alex quickly averts her eyes and lets out a long breath, but doesn’t immediately answer.

“Alex?” he prompts.

“He’s not here, Dominic,” she finally says, still not meeting his eyes, and he frowns.

“What do you mean, not here? Have you seen him since you got here? Is he in a different waiting area? Should we go looking for him?”

“He’s been fast-tracked,” Alex just says, and finally trains her eyes straight at him, giving him a significant look.

Dominic swallows thickly. “What do you mean, fast-tracked?” he asks hoarsely.

Alex sighs and says, “He got here a few minutes after me. As soon as he arrived, there was some kind of commotion, and those guys—” she points to the people at the typewriters, “—had an argument with the others, the… men with sticks and rope—”

“The guardians,” Dominic throws in.

“Yes, them. Anyway, the long and short of it, Hal was… taken away pretty much instantly. We barely had a chance to talk three sentences. When I asked one of the guys what was going on, he just said that the queues were getting too long so Hal had been fast-tracked. Because his crimes were so great that—”

“Yes, I get the idea,” Dominic says quickly. “Did… they say anything about where they were taking him?” he asks, but in reality, he already knows the answer to that question. His breath is catching in his throat as he looks at Alex pleadingly – pleading for what he isn’t even sure.

“Well there’s really only two places he could’ve gone, Dominic,” Alex says gravely, “and I doubt it’s the nice one.”

Forcing in a desperate breath, Dominic chokes out, “I have to get him out of there, Alex.”

“Dominic, listen, I think it’s time to—”

“No!” he shouts, then takes a breath to calm himself before he continues, “I have to get him out of there. That’s why I’m here. I have to speak to one of these people, the administrators, and I’ll get both of you back home.” Walking up to the closest cubicle, he takes a look at the inhabitant – a middle-aged man with slicked-back black hair and the same sallow skin and pale, milky eyes as the men with sticks and rope – and says, “Excuse me?”

The man looks up at him and frowns deeply. “I don’t believe I called your number, did I?” he asks sternly.

“No, but I—”

“Then get back in the queue please, sir, and wait for your number to be…” he trails off, and his eyes widen in recognition when he realises that he doesn’t have just another ghost in front of him. “You’re the one the guardians told us about. You’re here to find someone.”

“That’s right,” Dominic says with a brisk nod. “In fact, I have already found one of them, she is over there.” He gestures vaguely in the direction of where Alex is standing and watching the interaction, a horrified expression on her face.

The man raises his eyebrows at him. “And what are you asking us to do now that you found her?”

Dominic clears his throat loudly and says, “I”d like you to let her go.”

The man lets out a short, high-pitched laugh that makes Dominic’s toes curl. “Let her go? I’m sorry, sir, but I’m afraid we haven’t got a form for that. Has she filled in her form yet?”

“I don’t know—” Dominic starts, but never gets the chance to finish.

“Well in that case, come back to me when she’s finished filling in the form. You’ve already jumped the queue, and I’m busy working on another form right now, so if you could kindly leave me alone…” He raises his eyebrows at Dominic.

“I’m not sure if she’s even got her… form yet,” Dominic says, and almost immediately, the man hands him an official looking form that has _A01/B_ written at the top, clipped to a wooden clip board. Dominic frowns at the form, but takes it from the man and carries it back to Alex.

“What’s that?” she asks, eyes falling on the form.

Dominic sighs. “He asked me to give you this, to fill in. Once you’ve done it, we can bring it back to him, and he will look into it.”

Alex gives the form a sceptical look, but takes the pen off the clip board and starts filling in fields.

“Name, date of birth, date of death… these are all easy so far. Place of death… what was that place called again?” she asks with a furrowed brow towards Dominic.

“Zhivago’s Nightclub,” Dominic says at once.

“Thanks,” Alex mumbles as she scribbles it down in the correct box. “Location of Door,” she reads out next. “Well, I didn’t have a Door, did I?”

“No,” Dominic agrees. “Just… leave it blank, maybe? Explain it to them later?”

“Hmm,” she hums, scribbling some more on the form. Then her head shoots up towards Dominic, and she reads out, “Please list any good deeds. Continue overleaf if required. This is ridiculous, Dominic.”

He shrugs. “I guess they want to figure out where to send you from here, so they look at all the good and the bad and, I don’t know, weigh it up. But really, none of this should be necessary, because I’m going to take you back with me. Both of you.”

Without waiting for her reply, Dominic once again walks up to the man typing in the cubicle. Seeing him approach, the man lets out a deep sigh and asks, “What is it now, sir?”

“I don’t understand why she needs to fill in that form if I’m going to take her back with me,” Dominic says firmly, looking the man straight in the eyes.

“As I said already, sir, there is no form for letting someone go back. You would probably have to fill in an exception form _C42/X_ , but even then you can only change a decision made between upstairs and downstairs, not… back there.”

“Well, you better come up with some kind of solution then, because that is what I’m going to do,” Dominic says, starting to lose his temper. “I don’t care that you don’t have a fucking form for it.”

“But if her Door has expired, do you have any idea the extra paperwork required to order another one?” the man says, sounding exasperated. “It could take _years._ ”

Dominic takes a deep breath to keep himself calm. “But she hasn’t even had her first Door yet. She got here… some other way.”

The man’s eyes widen. “Why didn’t you say so?” he suddenly exclaims. “In that case, we don’t need _A01/B_ , but _A01/F_.” He holds out another clip board with a very similar looking form to the one Alex is already filling in.

“For heaven’s sake, no!” Dominic calls out in frustration. “She doesn’t need any of these forms, because she is _leaving_. Have I not made myself clear yet?”

The man frowns at him. “Listen, sir, I’m not sure who you think you are, but—”

“I killed the Devil,” Dominic blurts, and the man stops in his tracks, giving him a wide-eyed, shocked stare.

“Let me talk to my superior,” he says breathlessly after a moment, and picks up the receiver of an old-fashioned black telephone. Dominic can hear it ringing a couple of times, before there is a female voice on the other end. He can’t make out individual words, but he hears the man at the desk answering, “Ma’am, there is a man here, a live one… Yes, yes, I know… He claims to have—” here his voice is going very quiet, almost to a whisper, “—killed the Devil, ma’am… Yes, I’m being serious… He wants to bargain for someone’s life, ma’am… Yes, thank you, I’ll let him know.” He hangs up the phone and looks back up at Dominic, a wary expression in his eyes. “The senior administrator wishes to see you in her office, sir,” he says, voice sounding slightly strangled.

“Thank you very much,” Dominic replies, then, “Where is the office?”

“Just down that way, through the black double doors, sir,” the man says, pointing at a set of foreboding black doors.

Dominic swallows and nods. If that’s where he has to go, that’s where he has to go. He has made it this far. “All right,” he says, mustering a tiny smile. “Thank you for your help.”

He is just about to leave the cubicle when the man speaks up again. “How did you do it, sir?” At Dominic’s questioning expression, he clarifies, “How did you kill him?”

“My friends performed a ritual to bind him to a human body and make him vulnerable,” he explains. “And once they were finished, I shot him in the head.”

Dominic could swear he heard the man say, “Good riddance” under his breath, but when he asks him to repeat it, he just clears his throat and says, “Nothing, sorry. Good luck, sir.”

A small, grim smile forms on Dominic’s face as he makes his way back to Alex.

“What did he say?” she asks immediately.

“I have to speak to the senior administrator,” Dominic says, then gestures vaguely towards the double doors. “In there somewhere.”

Alex’s eyes widen. “Please be careful.”

He lets out a harsh laugh. “What’s the worst thing that can happen to me? If she’s going to kill me, at least I’m in the right place already.”

“Dominic, please don’t joke about that.”

He gives her a serious look. “I’ll be careful, I promise.”

A moment later, he once again finds himself with an armful of Alex, and he finds his own arms moving more naturally around her slim form. “I’ll hold you to that,” she whispers in his ear, then gives him a feather-light kiss on the cheek, and Dominic feels heat rising into his face.

“I’ll see you soon,” he says, trying to sound nonchalant even while his heart is once again racing in his chest as he extricates himself from her, turns and walks towards the black doors at the other end of the room.

***

Hal opens his eyes to perfect darkness. He closes them again, opens them again, realises that it doesn’t make a blind bit of difference. He leans back and shivers as his naked back comes into contact with the cold, damp wall. And there he was thinking that hell was going to be warm. He lets out a quiet chuckle that hurts his parched throat, and he coughs. The coughing only serves to irritate his throat more, and before he knows it, he finds himself in a serious coughing fit that reverberates and echoes off the walls of the small, dark room.

Why is his throat so dry? He needs to have a drink. He needs… he needs to drink someone… something… someone… He needs blood. Yes, blood. That’s the thing, the only thing that is going to make that feeling in his throat go away. He needs to find someone, and he needs to tear into their carotid, and drink the sweet, warm liquid inside. Where can he find someone? There is no one else here. But his throat is so dry, he needs to drink. He needs someone, he needs… he needs…

No. He doesn’t need blood. He managed to live long years without blood before, he doesn’t need it now. He can get through this, he can…

But then what? What’s after this? There is nothing after this. This is going to be forever. The darkness, the cold, the hunger. They are going to be with him forever. This is hell. Welcome to hell.

He lets out another cold chuckle, landing himself in yet another coughing fit.

“Henry,” someone says from above him. He halts, looks up. There is someone here. Someone he can kill, someone whose blood he can—

But no. He knows that voice. How does he know that voice? Who calls him Henry? Alex. No, not Alex. That voice… that was his mother’s. One of his mothers’. Which one? What were their names? Catherine, Charlotte, Lizzie… Florence... Mathilda... and… and Gertie. Yes. Catherine. Charlotte. Lizzie. Florence. Mathilda. Gertie. Catherine died first. That’s right. Catherine was the first, then Charlotte…

But no. He doesn’t want them to call him. Not again, not so soon. It hurts, they… they hurt him, and he’s scared, so scared… But maybe, maybe he can kill one of them, drink his blood. It would make his throat feel better. His throat is so dry. But no. He’s human, he doesn’t drink blood. He’s human… isn’t he? He’s Henry.

But he doesn’t want to be Henry. Not anymore. No, he’s better than that now. He’s stronger than that. But he needs blood to keep him strong. He needs blood. He needs to find someone, anyone…

“Hal,” someone says from above him. A female voice, a voice he knows. Who is it? Can he drink her blood? Did he drink her blood? He can’t remember. Can’t remember her name.

“What’s your name?” he asks, and his voice is raspy and weak, and it hurts his throat.

There is no reply, other than his own voice echoing around the small room. Who was she? Catherine? Charlotte? Lizzie? No, none of them. Or _was_ it Catherine, but _another_ Catherine? No. Eleanor? No. Nadia? No. Mary? No. Sylvie? Sylvie… yes, that was her, wasn’t it? He used to love her. And then he killed her. Can he kill her again? Can he drink her blood? He needs blood, he needs…

“Sylvie?” he croaks out.

“No,” the voice replies. “I’m all of them. And none of them. The voice combined of all the women you killed, and tortured, and mutilated. I’m here to return the favour.”

A cold gust of air whooshes through the room, and it sends a chill through Hal, and the hunger flares up painfully in his gut.

“I need…” he starts, but the words tickle his throat and he is thrown into another coughing fit.

“You need blood, I know, I know,” the voice says, sounding almost bored. “There’s no blood here, Hal. There never will be. You will be here, with us, with the dark, and the hunger, forever.”

Hal bites down hard on his bottom lip, trying to block out the burning pain in his stomach and the dryness in his throat and the echo of the voice of someone he used to love.

This is hell. Welcome to hell.


	16. Memory Lane

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Argh, I've jinxed myself! So I commented that I planned to update on Sunday, and I ended up not having anywhere near as much time to write at the weekend as I would have liked, plus I've just started a new job with a bitch of a long commute, which sadly means even less time to write. But anyways, I finally finished it, so here it is. Phew.
> 
> As always, thank you for reading.

In pitch dark  
I go walking in your landscape  
Broken branches  
Trip me as I speak

Just ‘cause you feel it  
Doesn’t mean it’s there  
Just ‘cause you feel it  
Doesn’t mean it’s there

\- Radiohead, “There There”

Dominic takes a deep breath and knocks rapidly on the sleek black doors. He steps back and listens for a reply, but there is only silence. Swallowing thickly, he lifts his hand again, just to freeze mid-movement as the doors swing open on their own accord, showing a long, dark corridor beyond.

 _Here goes nothing,_ he thinks, and steps into the corridor. There are no other doors in the dark grey walls, and Dominic follows the corridor, hearing his footsteps echoing off the walls as he moves towards the next set of similar doors at the end. As he approaches, these also swing open, and from within, he hears a female voice calling, “Come in.”

Dominic’s heart is, once again, racing in his chest, and he is not sure how much more of this his body can take before suffering a heart attack. He enters a large room that reminds him somewhat of Alistair’s office, except that it has no windows and is eerily lit by two oversized chandeliers on the ceiling. Below one of the chandeliers, there is a large, wooden desk, framed on each side by two big, dog-like creatures that are lying on the expensive looking oriental rugs and watch the new arrival with keen yellow eyes. Behind the desk sits a woman with long grey hair and the same dead looking eyes as everyone else in this place. Except, her eyes are anything but dead as they keenly follow him around the room.

Dominic crosses the office in four quick strides, and takes a seat across from the woman. “I take it you’re the senior administrator?” he asks.

“Indeed,” the woman says, and her voice sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard. Dominic shudders involuntarily. “And you are the man that claims to have killed the Devil.”

Dominic swallows, then nods. “That’s right.”

“Hmm.” The woman regards him with narrowed eyes for a long moment, then gets up and walks around the desk, towards where Dominic is sitting. He watches in horror as she comes to stand next to his chair and leans in to give him a sniff, much like the man did in the corridor when he first arrived. “You speak the truth,” she states.

“Of course I do,” Dominic says in a mixture of impatience and dread. “But I am here for a reason, so if we could—”

He doesn’t get to finish what he is saying, as at that moment, the woman reaches out and lays one cold, clammy palm on the centre of his forehead. Dominic holds his breath and freezes, unsure what to do or say. The woman just stands there like that for what feels like a small eternity and Dominic starts to see stars in front of his eyes from not breathing. Finally, she lifts her hand off his head and takes a step back, looking at him with a spark in her pale eyes.

“You have been touched by death,” she says.

He clears his throat, tries to nod but finds himself frozen in place. “Yes,” he says instead. “I… died once, for a few minutes. I was resuscitated.”

“You were killed by a vampire,” she says.

Dominic swallows. He doesn’t want to think about it like that. “Yes,” he reluctantly confirms.

“And now you are seeking that very same vampire,” she says, brow furrowing as she looks down at him. “Why?”

Dominic takes a deep breath. “Because I… care… about him,” he says slowly.

“Yes. I can feel that,” the woman says. “But that does not answer my question.” She shakes her head and adds, “No matter.” Then she whirls around and walks back behind her desk, taking a seat. “You should not be here,” she says after a moment.

“I know,” Dominic sighs. “The men, the… _guardians_ , agreed to bring me here, so I could speak to you about releasing my friends. They assisted in defeating the Devil.”

Her head snaps up at his last words, and she throws him a dangerous glare. “And you think that killing one of my most senior colleagues would somehow earn you special rights? Can you explain to me why that would be the case?”

“I… felt that it was generally seen as a positive thing,” he says, holding her gaze, but his voice goes quiet towards the end, and he forcefully clears his throat.

The woman lets out a deep sigh. “I must admit that I admire your determination, human—”

“Thank you,” Dominic throws in.

“—but I hope you realise that coming here was foolish to the extreme.” She gives him a chilling smile. “I don’t think I have a live human in my personal collection yet.”

“Your… personal… collection?” Dominic repeats, eyes widening as at that very moment, the dog-like creatures on each side of the desk sit up and show their large, white teeth.

“No, down,” the woman commands, and the dogs lie back down immediately. “I want to keep him alive and unharmed. He is… more fragile than our usual fare.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” Dominic says, even as fear settles like lead into his stomach. “But I’m not sure I understand.”

The woman gives him a cold, high-pitched laugh that sends a shiver down his spine. “I have been doing this job for a very long time,” she starts. “Every once in a while, someone comes through the door who… shall we say… piques my interest. Someone unusual. Often some kind of cursed creature like your precious vampire. In fact,” she adds, giving him another one of those horrible smiles. “I briefly considered him. After all, few other creatures have left quite such a large, bloody footprint on the world. And over a mere five hundred years as well.”

Dominic’s brow furrows as he considers just how old this creature before him must be if she considers five hundred years to be negligible.

“Older than you can imagine,” she answers his unspoken question. “But let us not get off topic. I decided that this particular vampire is too high maintenance for me to keep up here, so I sent him downstairs instead, to be kept safe. He really is quite disturbed, isn’t he?” she adds almost like an afterthought, shaking her head.

“He’s been through a lot,” Dominic says quietly.

“I am sure his victims would say the same thing, wouldn’t you agree?” the woman says, once again giving him a narrow-eyed glare.

Dominic meets her glare with one of his own. “I’m not here to discuss Hal’s past,” he says icily. “I’m here to free him and take him back with me. He was instrumental in defeating the Devil, he deserves to be given a second chance.”

The woman lets out another one of her high-pitched laughs. “A second chance.”

“Yes.” Dominic nods. “A second chance.”

The woman looks at him for a long moment, a disconcerting small smile playing on her lips. Dominic feels his breathing speed up to the verge of hyperventilating while he is waiting for her to speak. “I have an idea,” she says eventually.

“I’m listening.”

“You want to get your vampire out of hell? You need to first of all get there,” she starts, and Dominic frowns as he waits for her to continue, not knowing where this is going but also not really wanting to find out. “Now I could let you use the staff lift, but that would be cheating,” she says with a toothy smile. “No, I am thinking I will let you go the scenic route.”

Dominic’s frown deepens. “The scenic route?”

“Through his corridor,” she replies, still smiling.

Dominic’s eyes widen. “ _His_ corridor?”

“Indeed,” the woman confirms with a nod. “You can make your way through some of his memories, and if, by the time you reach his room, you still feel that he ‘deserves a second chance’… then by all means, give it to him.”

Dominic stares at her for a moment, trying to make sense of her proposal. “So if I make it to his room, and I still want to free him, you’re saying we are free to go?”

“Yes.”

“What about my other friend?” Dominic asks.

“The ghost? Oh, by all means, take her with you. She is inconsequential.”

“All right,” Dominic says, jumping up from his chair. “Where do I go?”

***

The corridor stretches out seemingly endlessly before him, and Dominic silently wonders whether the length of somebody’s corridor is proportional to their lifespan. It would make sense, after all. Trying desperately to calm down his racing heart, he looks at what must be hundreds of doors along both walls. How does he decide which ones to go into? Just pick one at random? Surely he isn’t expected to go through all of them? He would probably be here for years.

Walking slowly along the corridor, Dominic’s eyes fall on a black wooden door with two large glass panes, the kind of which you would find in a shop. He tries to see through the glass, but finds only darkness inside. Something about this door intrigues him, and, taking a deep breath, he reaches out to open it. He steps through, and finds himself standing in what looks like an old-fashioned barber shop. There are chairs all along the left-hand side, in front of large wall mirrors. The lights are turned off, bathing the back half of the shop in semi-darkness, but Dominic can still just about make out two people, seemingly deep in conversation.

“All I’m saying, Hal, is that you can’t hide away in here forever,” one of the two is now saying, and Dominic’s heart skips a beat when he hears the name.

“I’m not saying that I will never go out with you again, but what happened at the miniature circus should—”

“Hal, that was more than six years ago,” the other man now says. Dominic squints to get a better picture of the two men standing in the shadows at the back of the shop, and after a moment, the pieces seem to fall into place. This must be Leo. He is standing in the barber shop in Southend, where Hal spent fifty-odd years shortly before he met him.

Dominic takes a hesitant step into the room, and as soon as he does, Hal’s head snaps up, and their eyes meet briefly across the room. Dominic feels his breath catch in his throat, but there is no recognition in Hal’s eyes, and before Dominic even has the chance to say anything, Hal looks away and turns around, towards the doorway at the back of the room. “Leo, customer,” he mumbles in a strangled sounding voice, and disappears down the narrow corridor.

“No, I’m—” Dominic starts, but never gets to finish as Leo walks towards him with a big smile.

“I’m so very sorry, sir. I thought I had put up the closed sign on the door.” He looks past Dominic to the door, and Dominic follows his gaze. “Oh,” Leo continues, a small frown on his face, “and so I have.”

“I’m sorry,” Dominic says quickly. “I must have misread it.”

“Oh, no worries,” Leo says now, and the smile is back. “I can make an exception for you.”

Dominic looks at him with wide eyes. “I’m not here to have my hair cut,” he says hesitantly, unsure of how to continue. What is he supposed to do here? What is he supposed to achieve?

“How can I help you then, sir?” Leo asks.

“I…” Dominic starts, but trails off as he actually has no idea what to say next. He frowns again, and Leo gives him an apprehensive look.

“Are you sure you are in the right shop, sir?”

Dominic takes a deep breath. “Yes, I… I was looking for someone, actually,” he says, and looks Leo straight in the eyes. “Your friend, the one you were just talking to—”

“I’m sure you’re in the wrong place,” Leo says then, slightly more forcefully than Dominic would have expected, and he takes a step back instinctively.

“No,” he says firmly. “Hal Yorke. I’m looking for Hal Yorke.” He meets Leo’s eyes again, and sees the other’s eyes narrowing at the mention of the name.

“How do you know Hal?” Leo asks.

“I… it’s… complicated,” Dominic stutters, and inwardly kicks himself. He takes a deep breath and adds, “I would really like to speak to him.”

Leo’s frown deepens. “I don’t think that would be a good idea, sir.”

“Who is this guy, Leo?” a female voice suddenly speaks up, and Dominic whirls around, but can’t make out the source of the voice. _Of course,_ his mind catches up a moment later. _This must be Pearl._

“My name is Dominic Rook—” he starts introducing himself, but is, once again, interrupted.

“Whoa, hold on,” Pearl exclaims. “Can you hear me?”

He sighs and says, “Yes, I can hear you. You’re Pearl, aren’t you?”

“You can hear me _and_ you know my name? This is getting decidedly creepy if you ask me, Leo.”

“Who are you?” Leo asks now, and Dominic sighs.

“As I said, my name is Dominic Rook. I work for… no, you know what, that’s not important. Basically, I know Hal from…” he drifts off. What can he tell them? They are just a memory, aren’t they? Nothing here is real. It shouldn’t matter what he tells them. He closes his eyes, takes a breath and continues, “from the future.”

Pearl lets out an incredulous laugh. “From the future?”

Dominic nods, eyes still closed, and a blush is creeping into his cheeks now.

“I think he is being serious, Pearl,” Leo chimes in.

“I am,” Dominic says, and opens his eyes. Leo is looking at him with big eyes, and he can feel Pearl’s presence right beside him. “And I know your names, because Hal told me about you.”

“In the future,” Pearl says deadpan, and Dominic nods again.

“Yes,” he confirms.

“This is bonkers.”

“Let’s hear him out, Pearl, okay?” Leo says, giving Dominic an uncertain look.

Dominic lets out a relieved sigh and says, “Thank you, Leo.”

He is about to continue when Pearl throws in, “What year in the future?”

Looking in her direction, he says, “2013. But really—”

“But that’s fifty years from now!” Pearl blurts out.

“He did say he was from the future, Pearl,” Leo says, a touch of fond exasperation in his voice that makes Dominic smile.

“Yes, I…” The smile dies on his face when he says the next words. “Hal is in danger.” His brow furrows as he looks between Leo and where he knows Pearl to be. It belatedly registers at the back of his mind that he is once again unable to see the ghost, but he puts that piece of information to one side for now, trying to concentrate on more important matters. “In the future. I’m trying to save him.”

“What kind of danger?” Pearl asks.

“I can’t really go into a lot of detail,” Dominic replies. “But I think I need to talk to him. I think that’s why I’m here.”

“You _think_?” Pearl says. “Is there anything you actually _know_?”

Dominic gives her another small, wistful smile. “Not an awful lot, I’m afraid. I’m very much stumbling in the dark here.”

“So how did you get here?” the ghost asks.

He lets out another sigh. “It’s a long story.”

“Be that as it may,” Leo speaks up, and Dominic turns to look at the werewolf, “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to speak to Hal. You’re a human. He… doesn’t take well to humans.”

Dominic swallows thickly. “Yes, I’m aware of that.”

“How do you know Hal, anyway?” Pearl asks, and Dominic closes his eyes for a brief moment, taking a deep breath to keep his composure. He is starting to feel like he is being interrogated.

“We are…” he drifts off, not sure how much he should reveal to Leo and Pearl, “…friends,” he finally settles on. “Close friends.”

“I would be very surprised if Hal was close friends with a human fifty years from now,” Leo says with a small frown.

“Yes, and where are Leo and I? You said that Hal told you about us, but you’ve clearly never met us before. So are we—”

“Don’t ask these questions, Pearl. I’m sure you’re not supposed to ask questions like that. It’s like in that new show we’ve been watching on the TV, isn’t it? What’s that show called again?”

“Doctor Who,” Pearl throws in with a sigh. “But this isn’t the telly, Leo, it’s real life.”

“All the same,” Leo insists, “I’m sure you’re not supposed to ask those questions.”

Dominic nods and says, “I think you’re right, Leo. But to answer _your_ question, I believe you’ll find that Hal is capable of having close relationships with humans, although it isn’t without its risk.”

“I would agree with the second part of that statement.”

All three of them turn around to face the new arrival, and Dominic once again finds his breath catching in his throat as he lays eyes on Hal. He looks pretty much exactly the same as he knows him, except that his hair might be a little bit longer, and he is dressed in a white shirt and dark grey trousers that are held up with a pair of black braces.

Dominic fights the urge to run forwards and throw his arms around Hal, and instead he lets out a deep breath, inclines his head politely in his direction, and says, “I take it you’ve been listening for a while.”

Hal appears distinctly uncomfortable, his hazel eyes haunted and fearful as they dart nervously around the room from where he is standing, rooted to the spot at the back of the shop. Dominic’s practised eyes notice that his chest is barely moving, clearly he is trying to breathe as little as possible. His right hand, in contrast, is in constant movement, flicking a small white object between his fingers… a domino, Dominic realises after a moment.

“I have indeed.”

“Then you know where I have come from, and I why I am here,” Dominic says calmly, eyes never leaving Hal even as the vampire is making a special effort to evade his gaze.

Hal frowns. “I know where you have said you’ve come from,” he says. “What I don’t understand is, how? Time travel is not possible. If it was, surely I would have come across it by now.”

“I really can’t go into detail about that,” Dominic says again, feeling like he is starting to sound like a broken record. “You will just have to trust me, Hal.”

At this, Hal’s eyes finally meet his own, and Dominic is shocked by the amount of pain he can see in those familiar hazel orbs. “You really know me, in the future?” he asks through clenched teeth.

Dominic nods. “Yes.”

Hal tries on a smile that looks more like a grimace. “So there will be a time in the future when I can be safe around humans again?”

Dominic swallows. Well, not exactly. Not like this. But this version of Hal doesn’t need to know that. “Yes,” he says, voice barely above a whisper.

“You see, Hal,” Leo says. “There is hope for you yet.”

“Yes, perhaps there is,” Hal agrees, but he doesn’t sound very convinced. Dominic can see him swallowing repeatedly, and his hand flicking the domino is going into overdrive. His whole body is as tense as a bowstring as he stands ramrod straight in the corner of the room, staring at a point on the floor somewhere next to Dominic’s left foot. “But that time is definitely not now,” he adds after a short pause, a tortured look in his eyes and that strange mixture between a smile and a grimace on his face. “Leo, would you mind showing the gentleman the door before I do something I will very much regret.” With that he turns on his heels and all but runs down the narrow corridor and, from the sound of it, up a flight of stairs at the back. Dominic feels a whoosh of air to his left that indicates that Pearl has most likely rent-a-ghosted upstairs to keep the distraught vampire company.

Leo gives Dominic a significant look. “I’m sorry, sir, but I do believe it’s best if you leave now.”

Dominic’s heart sinks as his eyes wander over the empty space where Hal stood only a moment before. This is how it is going to be, isn’t it? This is their future. Hal is determined that he has to go dry, and there is no way he will ever be able to be relaxed and safe around Dominic again.

He sighs deeply and says, “Of course. I won’t bother you any longer.”

“It’s not me,” Leo replies. “It’s Hal. He’s… not good with humans at this time. It’s good to know that he will get better though.” He gives Dominic a small smile that causes a stab of guilt in his chest.

Returning the smile as best he can, he says, “You’re doing a fantastic job with him, Leo. He would never have been able to get there without you.”

Leo is about to say something else when there is a loud crash from upstairs, followed by the sound of Pearl’s voice shouting something, and Leo instead moves forward and ushers Dominic towards the door. “Go now,” he says urgently, the look in his eyes equal parts pleading and apologetic.

Dominic nods, opens the door, and steps through out onto the street…

Except that instead of the street, he find himself back in Hal’s corridor. The door falls shut behind him, and Dominic takes a deep breath to get his thoughts in order. Hal has always spoken of Leo and Pearl as his saviours, the people who kept him safe from drinking blood, safe from killing people, for over fifty years.

From what he has seen, Dominic thinks, it looked more like a prison sentence to him.

Shaking his head, he slowly starts walking along the corridor again, looking at the doors on either side. None of them seem to have the same appeal to him as that first one did, so he keeps walking for a good few minutes. Eventually, his eyes fall on a heavy, industrial looking steel door, and he frowns. The door certainly doesn’t have any aesthetic appeal to it, but something about it draws Dominic closer, and before he knows it, he reaches out his hand and depresses the handle.

***

Dominic steps through the door into what at first glance looks like a dark and slightly dingy, but otherwise fairly ordinary looking bar. Groups of people are sat on comfortable looking leather sofas and armchairs around round tables, and jazz music is blaring from the speakers behind the long, wooden bar that seems to serve any type of alcohol under the sun.

Then, Dominic’s eyes fall on a large metal cage at the back of the room, and his breath hitches in his throat. The cage is currently housing a very scared looking woman in a mustard yellow wool dress and matching high heels, who is standing pressed up against the bars of the cage, clutching them with both hands, and shouting abuse at a group of people sitting on a large, semi-circular sofa around a table facing the cage.

“What do you want from me?” the woman is asking, voice almost going hypersonic in her drive to be heard. “What have I done to you to be locked up in this thing? I demand to be let out at once!”

There is a roar of laughter from the group at the table, and Dominic carefully walks around the edge of the room to get a better look at them. Dread settles into his stomach as his rational mind supplies him with what exactly the cage is going to be used for. He has seen one very much like it before, in Barry, about a year ago.

“I’m sorry, _darling_ ,” one of the group shouts, prompting another raucous laugh from the rest, “but we won’t be able to do that. You’re part of tonight’s entertainment.”

“I like her,” another voice speaks up then, and the familiarity of it sends a chill down Dominic’s spine. “She’s got spirit.”

The group laughs again, and Dominic finally makes his way around the room to face the sofa from a dark corner, trying to stay out of the group’s field of vision as much as possible. There are five of them in total, he counts. All men, and chances are, all of them vampires. His heart speeds up when his eyes home in on Hal, sprawled out with one foot on the edge of the the table and an arm slung along the back of the sofa and around—

Dominic feels a surge of jealousy coursing through his body like an electric shock as he takes in the young blond man who sits with his head resting on Hal’s shoulder and a hand possessively lying on his thigh. Hal’s fingers, he realises, are lightly caressing the man’s shoulder through the fabric of his shirt.

“Maybe we should try and find another human for the cage tonight,” the young man says now, a small crease between his brows as he speaks. “If you like her so much, you might want to keep her as a pet.”

Hal chuckles. “No. I’ve already got a pet. He’s going to rip this one to pieces in not to long.”

“What?” the woman shrieks immediately. “What did you just say? Did you say rip to pieces? What are you going to do to me? I demand to be told—”

“Argh, someone, please shut this woman up,” Hal drawls, and the blond man tilts his head at an awkward angle to face him.

“I thought you said a moment ago that you liked her?” he asks now, a teasing smile on his lips. Dominic very much wants to punch that smile right off his stupid face.

“I changed my mind,” Hal replies, and leans down to kiss the other man. Dominic’s chest constricts as he feels another powerful stab of jealousy, and before he knows it, he steps forwards, out of the shadows.

Almost immediately, one of the vampires’ head snaps up. “Ooh, what do we have here?” he exclaims, before slowly getting up and walking over to him. But long before the other vampire can even reach him, Hal has jumped up and moved over so fast that it makes Dominic’s head spin.

“What indeed?” Hal asks, coming to a graceful stop in front of Dominic and giving him a small, predatory smile. “Aren’t you a pretty one,” Hal mumbles under his breath, reaching out a hand and running his index finger down Dominic’s cheek. “Did Fergus send you?”

“No,” Dominic croaks past a rapidly growing lump in his throat. He clears his throat, tries again, “No. I don’t know any Fergus. I… came here by myself.”

Hal’s smile grows, and it makes Dominic’s stomach somersault. “Did you now?” Hal asks, obviously intrigued. He turns around to the rest of the group and calls, “He claims he just walked in here by himself. What do you think I should do with him?”

“You wanted another human in the cage,” one of them, an older man with a long, grey beard, chimes in. Dominic’s eyes flick towards the woman in the cage and his heart speeds up uncontrollably.

Hal snorts. “No, Dennis, not this one. He is… destined for better things, I’m sure.” He turns back to Dominic, looks deep into his eyes, and Dominic is amazed by the difference he sees between this confident, carefree version of Hal and the anxious, reserved mess he met in Leo’s barber shop only minutes earlier.

Hal’s hand comes back up to Dominic’s face, tilts his chin up, and he takes a step closer, leaning in. They are so close that Dominic can feel Hal’s cool breath on his face, and it makes his heart race for completely different reasons. But Hal doesn’t quite close the distance between them, and a moment later, he steps back and grabs Dominic’s wrist, pulling him along with him towards the sofa. His grip is strong, and it irritates the barely healed over wounds in Dominic’s wrist, making him wince.

Immediately, Hal stops in his tracks and turns around to him. With a slight frown on his face, he lifts up Dominic’s wrist and opens the buttons on his shirt cuff. “Ooh,” he crows when he sees the two small marks. “What do we have here?” His eyes come back up to meet Dominic’s, who swallows compulsively, eyes widening under Hal’s expectant gaze.

“I…” he trails off, unsure what to say.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell if you won’t,” Hal whispers with a wink, then closes his hand around Dominic’s now exposed wrist and pulls him the rest of the way to the sofa. “Hey, Louis, scoot over,” he says, and the tall, bulky man moves over to the right at once. Hal sits back down next to the young blond man, still holding on to Dominic’s wrist, and now there is an empty space on Hal’s right. “Sit down,” Hal prompts him, indicating the space. “I won’t bite—” he gives Dominic another big smile, showing off his perfect teeth, “—unless you want me to.”

Dominic looks back and forth between Hal and the empty space on the sofa for a long moment. This is such a bad idea. He is in a vampire bar, surrounded by vampires, with wine glasses full of blood on the table in front of them, and a human woman in a cage, about to be torn to shreds by a werewolf. Such a bad idea.

Dominic takes a deep breath and takes a seat.

“Good boy,” Hal says, bringing up his right arm and lightly caressing the back of Dominic’s head. Dominic almost automatically turns towards him, and Hal looks straight into his eyes again. “God, you’ve got pretty eyes,” he breathes, then turns away to face the young man on his other side. “Hasn’t he got pretty eyes?”

“Are you trying to make me jealous?” the young man asks.

Hal lets out a small laugh. “No, Cutler, of course not.”

 _Cutler?_ Dominic thinks at once. Where has he heard that name before? Not that it matters very much right now, other than that Hal obviously used to be in a relationship with him some sixty years ago. Nonetheless he stores the name away at the back of his mind for future reference.

“Well it looks like it from where I’m sitting,” Cutler says, sounding sulky.

Hal laughs again, louder. “Cutler, he’s a _human_. Do you really think—”

“So was I once, remember? When you met me? Didn’t take you long to rectify that.”

Hal lets out a dramatic sigh, then leans in and meets Cutler in a downright filthy, open-mouthed kiss. “I’m not trying to make you jealous,” he says after a long moment. Then he turns back towards Dominic, brow creasing, and asks, “Do you?”

Dominic frowns. “Do I what?”

Hal gives him a fleeting smile, showing fangs. “Do you want me to?”

It only takes Dominic a second to grasp his meaning, and he swallows nervously, heart hammering in his chest as he eyes the vampire in front of him. Does he? If Dominic is completely, brutally honest with himself, the answer is a resounding _yes._ But he also knows how utterly foolish he would be to give in to his urges here, now, with a memory of Hal from sixty years ago who seems more interested in snogging his pretty vampire boyfriend, when really he should be working on saving the real Hal.

 _But what have you got to lose?_ that little voice at the back of his mind speaks up. _It’s not like this is even real. Nothing here is real._

“Yes,” he croaks before he can stop himself, and the smile on Hal’s face widens.

“Well, you don’t have to ask me twice,” he says, and once again grabs Dominic’s wrist. Only, this time, he brings it up towards his mouth and, not breaking eye contact with Dominic, sinks his fangs into the soft skin. Dominic winces slightly at the sharp pain. It may not _be_ real, but it certainly _feels_ real. Hal’s eyes flash black for a fraction of a second, and Dominic feels a spark of arousal in his gut. Endorphins are flooding his system as Hal continues to suck on his wrist, and he can feel his breathing speed up, his chest heaving rapidly as he watches Hal, unable to tear his eyes away from him.

After what feels like much too short a time, but was probably longer than he has ever consciously allowed Hal to drink before, Cutler reaches over and forcefully turns Hal’s head away from Dominic’s wrist, pulling him into another sloppy, open-mouthed kiss. It makes Dominic’s stomach turn to think that they are sharing _his_ blood between them, and he feels violently sick all of a sudden. What is he even doing here? Is this really what he let himself be reduced to?

“Excuse me,” he mumbles, and starts to get to his feet, but Hal’s hand shoots out and takes hold of his bleeding wrist before he can even take one step away from the table.

“And where do you think you’re going?” Hal asks now, sharp eyes trained on him and keeping a painful grip around his wrist.

“I… need to move on,” Dominic says, breaths coming in heavy gasps as he tries to pull himself free of Hal.

“Oh, but the fun is only just about to start,” Hal says, nodding his head in the direction of the cage. Dominic turns around just in time to see a young black man in heavy chains being led to the cage door by two large, heavyset vampires. “Meet Leo, my champion,” Hal says, a big grin on his face as he watches the struggling werewolf being pushed into the cage by the two vampires. “He hasn’t let me down yet. I’m sure tonight’s show is going to be spectacular.”

“What sick kind of game are you playing?” the woman inside the cage shrieks now. “What are you going to do? Make me fight this man? Tell me, I demand to—”

Hal lets out a long-suffering sigh. “Please, someone. We’ve got fifteen minutes ’til the full moon. I don’t think I’ll survive another fifteen minutes in the company of this harpy.”

“What do you want us to do?” one of the other vampires – Dennis? – asks.

Hal growls. “Just, I don’t know, go grab a human off the street or something.”

Dennis and Louis give Hal a curt nod and get up, walking towards the exit door. Dominic’s eyes follow the two vampires for a long moment before he brings them back down towards Hal, who is still holding on to his wrist.

“I really don’t think I need to be here for this,” Dominic says urgently, once again trying and failing to pull his arm free.

“To the contrary, I think you need to see this,” Hal says, eyes boring into him. “Sit down,” he commands, pulling violently on Dominic’s wrist until he has no choice but to obey. Dominic’s breath catches in his throat as he sits, stock still, next to Hal, who is still holding on to his wrist. “Have you ever seen a dog fight before?” Hal asks now, forehead creasing as he looks at Dominic.

“No,” Dominic replies through clenched teeth. He really needs to get out of here, and preferably before he has to watch Leo in wolf-form tearing a defenceless human to pieces.

Hal snorts. “You’d think that you would be a little bit more grateful that I decided not to feed you to the wolves tonight… quite literally.”

There is some kind of commotion at the doors then, and Hal’s head whirls around to look at what is going on. Dominic also chances a look and sees that Dennis and Louis have returned, half leading, half dragging a man in a business suit through the bar and towards the cage. The man’s nose is bleeding and one of his eyes is almost swollen shut, and he looks nearly unconscious to Dominic.

At their approach, one of the two vampires who brought in Leo quickly unlocks the cage, careful not to let the werewolf escape as they push the dazed man into the cage with the young werewolf. Leo is sitting with his knees drawn up in one corner of the cage, eyes wide and staring at… Dominic’s eyes widen when he follows Leo’s gaze and sees the lifeless body of the woman lying in the opposite corner, head turned in an unnatural angle that tells him that her neck has clearly been snapped. Dominic feels another wave of nausea coursing through him. He didn’t even notice when they killed her.

“Wait for it,” Hal says now, his mouth right next to Dominic ear, making him shiver. “It’s only a matter of minutes now.”

But the minutes drag on like hours as Dominic sits, Hal holding his wrist in a death grip in his lap, and watches as Leo gets up from his place in the corner and starts restlessly pacing the length of the cage, carefully avoiding to look at the man who is sitting, slumped against the cage bars, watching him with wide, terrified eyes.

“Are you going to kill me?” the man asks, words slightly slurred by his obvious concussion.

“I’m so sorry,” Leo says quietly. “I don’t mean to.”

The man shrinks further away from the pacing werewolf. “Why?” he asks brokenly.

Instead of answering his question, however, Leo asks, “What’s your name?”

The man frowns. “Why do you want to know?”

Leo stops pacing and throws the man a cursory glance. “Because I want to remember you.”

The man looks at him for a long moment, but eventually says, “Fred Saunders.”

“I’m sorry, Fred Saund—” But he never gets to finish the sentence, as at this moment, he doubles over with a bone-chilling scream, and falls onto his hands and knees as the transformation takes hold.

Hal sits up straighter next to Dominic. “There,” he breathes, eyes bright and a sickening smile on his face that makes Dominic want to throw up. He averts his eyes as Leo’s body undergoes the agonising transformation from human to monster, but Hal tugs painfully on his wrist and hisses, “Watch.”

Dominic’s eyes flick up just in time to see the wolf stand up on its back legs and snarl viciously at the group of vampires in front of it. It throws itself heavily against the cage bars once, twice, three times, but eventually seems to realise that there is no way out. The man in the cage has gotten to his feet, his sympathetic nervous system overriding any drowsiness he might have felt in a desperate fight to survive.

“Go on, Leo. Tear him to shreds,” Hal calls out next to him. “I’ve bet half my savings on you.”

And then the wolf pounces. The man never even has the faintest chance as the vicious monster tears into him with teeth and claws. Blood spatters everywhere, and Dominic watches in horror as the werewolf rips off body parts and pulls out organs.

He almost doesn’t notice when Hal, engrossed in the carnage before him, lets go of his wrist. His eyes flick down to where his hand is lying in Hal’s lap, then up to his face, watching the spectacle and paying him no attention whatsoever, and in one quick, fluid motion, he pulls his arm away, stands up, and makes his escape. By the time Hal realises he is gone, his hand is already on the door handle, and a moment later, he finds himself back in the bleak corridor.

Dominic heaves a few badly needed deep breaths and closes his eyes tightly to try and erase the disturbing images from his mind. To read about these things is one thing, but to actually see it with his own eyes…

Dominic lets out a heavy sigh and opens his eyes. There is no time for thoughts like that. He has to move on. Taking one last look at the heavy steel door, he turns away and once again sets off down the long, empty corridor.


	17. Neither Desire nor Fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> I'm sorry I've been taking a little longer once again to get this chapter out. There is a scene towards the end of the chapter that I have been waiting to write for a long, long time, so I really wanted to make sure I do it justice before posting.
> 
> The chapter title is taken from the Yorke family motto, "Nec cupias, nec metuas", which translates to "Neither desire nor fear". I quite liked it, and thought it worked well for this chapter.
> 
> Oh, also, all Polish translations in this chapter are courtesy of Google Translate, so if there are any mistakes, they're not mine!

Blind white lies and shallow truth  
Broken strings and stolen youth  
I've seen too much of not enough  
But you came much closer than they had before

\- Silverchair, “Too Much of Not Enough”

Dominic walks for at least ten minutes this time, passing countless doors left and right, but his thoughts are not really on selecting his next target. Instead his mind replays the scene in the vampire bar over and over in his head, until it makes him dizzy. He can still feel the ghost of Hal’s vice-like grip on his wrist, see the desperation in the eyes of the man in the cage, hear the crunch and squelch of him being ripped apart by the beast, followed by the ecstatic cries of the watching vampires.

Dominic stops dead and closes his eyes, forcing a few deep breath down into his lungs to calm himself. None of this should have come as a surprise. He read Hal’s file, he knows what kinds of things he used to get up to. He also knows that _his_ Hal is not like that anymore.

 _Oh, no, he’s much more like the one you met in Leo’s barber shop, isn’t he?_ A cruel little voice speaks up at the back of his mind, and Dominic shudders with a sudden chill. Taking another couple of deep breaths, he opens his eyes and starts walking again, taking a look left and right at the doors he passes. His eyes eventually fall on a large, ornate door that would not look amiss in a stately home or castle, and he stops, hand reaching out to the door handle…

He finds himself standing in the entrance hall of a large mansion with black and white marble tiled floors and expensive furniture. His footsteps echo in the eerie silence of the hall, and Dominic looks around him with wide eyes, unsure of where to go or what he may find. A sense of dread settles into his stomach the further he goes, and the next moment the perfect silence is pierced by a bloodcurdling scream, followed by fast running footsteps. Dominic turns in the direction of the footsteps, only to see a young woman in a black and white maid’s uniform running towards him with panic in her eyes.

“Turn back!” she shouts as soon as she sees him. “Turn back and flee! They’re killing everyone!”

“Who?” Dominic asks, even though he already knows the answer to that question.

“Demons!” the woman cries, tears streaming down her face and chest heaving from exertion. “Demons with black eyes and wolf’s teeth. I’ve never seen anything like it. Come with me, sir, or they will get you too!”

Dominic’s heart speeds up as he looks back and forth between the maid and the large set of wooden double doors in front of him that she just escaped through. What is he supposed to do? Stay and be attacked? Or flee and look for another memory? His eyes flick back to the front doors, and for a moment he considers going back, getting himself to safety. What would happen if he was killed in here? It’s not real, it shouldn’t be able to harm him. Dominic can’t shake the feeling that he chose this door for a reason, that he is supposed to be here.

“Come on, sir, we need to go!” the maid yells at him from across the hall, and Dominic gives her a long, hard look, then swallows thickly and shakes his head.

“You go ahead,” he says. “I’ll be all right.”

“No!” she shouts, but Dominic ignores her pleas, and instead turns towards the wooden double doors. Reaching out a hand, he pushes one door open, and his eyes widen and his stomach lurches as he takes in the scene in front of him. He is standing in a large reception room, furnished in the same expensive style as the entrance hall. There is a group of ornate sofas and armchairs arranged around a large fireplace, and the fabric of the sofas, as well as the expensive looking carpet underneath, are soaked in fresh, red blood. The bodies of at least four people are strewn across the floor, one of them slumped in one of the armchairs, one on the floor in front of the fireplace, and two flung in awkward angles across the largest sofa.

Dominic’s eyes fall on the body of a young woman with her head hanging over the back of the sofa. Her dress has been torn from her chest, which has been ripped open, ribs cracked and broken to reveal her heart, unbeating but still oozing bright red blood from where one of the ventricles was pierced by razor-sharp fangs. Dominic feels a powerful wave of nausea, but at the same time he can’t tear his eyes away from the brutal scene. The other three occupants of the room – two women and one young man – are similarly disfigured, lying in large puddles of slowly congealing blood.

Dominic slowly moves through the room and towards another set of doors to the right. He stops in his tracks when he hears faint voices beyond.

“…and if you go in here, on the inside of the kidneys, you’ve got the veins that carry the cleanest blood in the body.”

Dominic blanches as he recognises the voice, lazy and slightly drunk sounding, but unquestionably Hal’s, giving what he can only assume is another vampire a lesson in human blood vessel anatomy.

“Can I?” the other man asks.

“Sure, go ahead,” Hal answers, and Dominic can hear faint movement in the room.

“Thank you, my lord,” the other vampire answers, and a moment later there is the unmistakable sucking sound of a vampire drinking. “Oh, that’s good,” the vampire says after a long moment, and Hal chuckles quietly in response.

“I told you,” he says smugly.

Dominic quietly inches forward until he stands right behind the large door, which is open just wide enough for him to take a look inside. His eyes fall on Hal, lounging on a loveseat with one leg on the seat and the other dangling off the edge, head leaning back against the arm rest and looking at the ceiling. There is blood covering his mouth, chin and cheeks. His shirt is hanging open, and his naked chest is also painted in bright red blood. As Dominic watches, he lazily runs a hand up his chest and brings his fingers up to his mouth, licking some of the blood off.

Then Hal turns his head towards the space on the floor in front of him, and Dominic’s eyes follow his gaze to the body of another young woman, lying prone on the plush carpet, completely naked and with a large, gaping hole in her upper back, white stumps of broken ribs sticking out through the sea of red. Dominic’s eyes wander to the form of a tall man with short brown hair kneeling on the floor next to the body, mouth and chin covered in blood just like Hal’s, licking his lips.

“Was that all of them, or do you think there’s any more, my lord?” the other vampire asks, lifting his head towards Hal, who sits up in one swift movement and gives the other man a long look, lifting his eyebrows.

“Let’s go and find out, shall we?”

He jumps to his feet and starts walking towards the doors at the other end of the room, when suddenly, he whips around and flares his nostrils, eyes darting in Dominic’s direction. Dominic’s heart skips a beat and his eyes widen as he watches Hal hastily making his way towards the doors.

“I think I’ve found one,” Hal says, eyes narrowing.

 _Move, you idiot!_ his rational mind reminds him _. Run! Get yourself to safety!_

But before he can even so much as turn around, the door opens, and Hal stands right in front of him.

“Well, hello there,” he drawls, a wild, predatory look in his eyes as they rake over Dominic. “Were you eavesdropping?”

“I… yes,” Dominic says, because what is the point in denying it?

 _This isn’t real,_ he thinks to himself. _You can’t die here. Nothing can happen to you._

Hal laughs harshly. “Did you hear that, Fergus? He says he was eavesdropping.” Looking directly into Dominic’s eyes, he says, “I’ve got to say, you’ve got some nerve, human.”

Dominic opens his mouth to reply, but he never gets the chance as Hal pounces on him, pushing him against the wall, one hand in a choke hold on his throat. Dominic can feel his airway closing up, and he desperately fights for breaths as he starts to see stars in front of his eyes.

“And you’re not even screaming, what a pleasant surprise,” Hal breathes into his ear. “So then, how do you want to die?”

Dominic opens his mouth, but no sound comes out as he finds himself wheezing for air.

“Oh, sorry, I forgot. You can’t actually talk,” Hal says conversationally, then heaves a big, dramatic sigh. “Fine then, I’ll decide for you.” And the next moment, he can feel Hal tearing brutally into his throat, ripping out large chunks of skin and muscle on his way to the artery. Dominic can hear himself crying out at the sudden onslaught, and the pain is unlike anything he has ever felt before. His neck is throbbing, burning in time with his heartbeat, and within seconds he can feel himself drifting away, like he is floating underwater, further and further away from the surface, into silence and darkness…

***

Dominic opens his eyes and finds himself lying on cold, hard concrete. There is a white painted ceiling above him, housing old-fashioned strip lights. He groans and rolls over onto his side, then slowly sits up. Stars are still dancing in front of his eyes, and he can feel an echo of the sharp pain in his throat where Hal tore into it.

Dominic once again finds himself taking deliberate, slow, deep breaths, and after a long moment, the lightheadedness subsides and he slowly gets to his feet, looking around him. He is back in Hal’s endless corridor, next to the large double doors he had gone through into the mansion. He turns to walk on, then pauses as his thoughts run haywire inside his head.

What is he trying to achieve here? Even if he does manage to free Hal, what future can they possibly have together? There is the Hal from the barber shop, who can’t even tolerate being in the same room as Dominic without threatening to lose control, and then there’s… the other one. The one he saw in the vampire bar, and the mansion. The one that doesn’t care one bit about a mere human, who doesn’t regard him as anything more than _food_.

Dominic sighs deeply and turns around, looking back towards the other end of the corridor, to the door that would lead him back to the administrator’s office. She said he can come back if he changes his mind. She said she will let him and Alex go.

He takes one slow, hesitant step towards the sleek, black door, and immediately feels his chest tighten, like a fist closing around his heart.

_No… This is Hal you’re talking about… You love him, you can’t just leave him here…_

_What are you thinking?_

The answer comes to him almost straight away. It’s what she wants him to think. She sent him here for that reason, to make him doubt, to make him change his mind. To make him abandon Hal to rot in this horrid place forever.

Dominic forcefully shakes his head, heaves another deep sigh, and turns on his heels, once again making his way down the silent corridor in quick, determined steps. He decides to completely ignore the doors. He has had enough of that insane woman’s mind games. He will walk down the rest of the corridor and make it to Hal’s room and free him and get them the fuck out of here.

What he doesn’t expect, however, is for two of the guardians to suddenly appear in front of him, their milky eyes piercing into him as they raise their sticks towards him.

“You can’t go further,” one of them says, and Dominic comes to a stop in front of them, instinctively raising his hands.

“I’m allowed to be here,” he says hastily. “The senior administrator—”

“—is not very pleased that you have decided to try cheating,” the man finishes his sentence for him, a sickening smile growing on his pale face.

Dominic sighs. “I should have known.”

“You should indeed,” the man agrees with a cold chuckle. “Now, left or right?”

Dominic looks at him for a moment with furrowed brows, until the man indicates the two doors on either side of the corridor.

“Left or right?” he asks again.

Dominic lets his eyes wander over each door in turn, and finds that they look very similar. Both are small, simple, wooden doors, and neither of them looks any more inviting than the other.

“Is there anything else you can tell me about these?” he asks.

The man grins at him. “Before, or after?” he asks.

Dominic frowns at him. “What do you mean, before or after?” But the man stays silent, giving him an expectant look.

Shrugging and shaking his head, Dominic eventually turns towards the door on his left.

“I think this one.”

“Very well,” the man says, and starts walking forward, ushering him towards the door until Dominic has no choice but to open it.

***

He once again finds himself in some kind of drinking establishment, but it’s significantly smaller and more crowded than the vampire bar was. All around him there are people, sitting and standing around tables, large tankards of beer in their hands, talking animatedly in a language that Dominic doesn’t understand. It sounds vaguely Eastern European, he thinks, but that is as far as it goes. He has never been much of a linguist.

“Przepraszam,” someone says loudly next to him, not waiting for a reply before pushing in between Dominic and the door, and Dominic, startled, jumps to the side to give the man some space.

“I’m sorry,” he says, but the man has already moved on, and Dominic shrugs and makes his way further into the tavern. His eyes dart around the room, trying to find a familiar face, but he finds himself surrounded by a crowd of strangers.

He walks over to the bar, where a short, round man with a receding hairline is drawing a beer from a large wooden barrel. The bartender’s eyes fall on Dominic, and he asks, “Czego się pan napije?”

“I’m sorry,” Dominic says again, a small frown on his face, “I don’t understand.”

At that moment, there is some kind of commotion at the other end of the bar. Dominic can hear raised voices, and a moment later, a familiar voice slurs, “God’s sake, does no one speak my fucking language in this godforsaken place. I _said_ piss off.”

Dominic whips around in the direction of the voice, and his eyes fall on Hal, sitting slumped over on a barstool, his head resting on his forearm on the bar, a tankard of beer clasped in his other hand. A tall man with thin, wispy ginger hair is standing next to him, glaring daggers at his motionless form and assaulting him with a verbal barrage that Dominic doesn’t understand anymore than Hal does.

“Chwileczkę,” the bartender says to Dominic then, and walks over towards Hal and the other man. “Co się dzieje?” he asks.

Hal growls low in his throat, then lifts his head off the bar briefly to glare at the bartender. “I haven’t got a fucking clue what you’re saying, arsehole,” he mumbles, then lays his head back down on his forearm.

The ginger man shouts something at Hal and, when the latter doesn’t respond, moves forward to give him a forceful shove, making him topple off the barstool and crash into the side of the bar before landing in an ungraceful heap on the floor. “Oi, you fucker, get the hell off of me,” Hal shouts back, fumbling to get himself back to his feet. He is obviously very, very drunk, Dominic thinks with a frown, moving closer to where Hal is now leaning his back against the bar.

The ginger man is crowding in on Hal now, giving him another shove into the bar, and the bartender shouts at both of them to break up the fight, only to be completely and utterly ignored. Hal is hardly in any shape to fight this man, who is a good head taller than him and looming over him threateningly, but still he raises his glassy eyes at the man and says, “Bring it on then, arsehole. Show me how strong you are.”

Dominic moves in, not sure what to do but feeling like he needs to intervene somehow. He doesn’t however make it there in time before the ginger man has laid his first punch straight into Hal’s jaw. Dominic stops in his tracks as Hal, seemingly invigorated by the impact, shoves the man off of him and lands his own punch to the side of the man’s face.

A small crowd is gathering around the two of them, and Dominic feels people trying to elbow their way past him, so he moves closer to the two fighting men as to not lose sight of Hal. The ginger man throws another punch at Hal’s face, and his fist comes away bloody. Dominic can see a large signet ring on one of his fingers.

“Ow, you stupid prick!” Hal roars as he brings his own hand up to his cheek, then takes it away and stares at the blood on his fingers for a moment before launching himself at the other man again. There is a flurry of fists before Hal is thrown back against the bar again, slumping down on the floor between two of the barstools. The ginger man is about to grab him and pull him back up to his feet as the bartender finally comes out from behind the bar and jumps in between the two, shouting something at the ginger man, who grumbles, but slowly backs away. The bartender shouts something more, and the next moment, the man turns around and makes his way through the onlookers and out onto the street.

Dominic turns back towards Hal, who is still sitting on the floor, slumped against the bar. His right cheek is bleeding, and he is breathing heavily. There is something different about Hal, Dominic thinks, without really being able to put his finger on it at first. Then Hal looks up at him with glassy eyes and stretches his hand out to him. “You mind?” he asks.

“No, of course not,” Dominic says, and grasps Hal’s hand without a second thought, pulling him up. As soon as he touches Hal’s skin, he is painfully aware of the difference. Hal’s skin is _warm_. He is breathing heavily because he is actually out of breath, there is a bright flush in his cheeks, and…

Dominic’s thumb moves without his conscious input, coming to rest on Hal’s wrist, and he feels a healthy, if slightly rapid pulse under his skin.

“You’re alive,” he blurts before he can stop himself.

“Of course I’m alive,” Hal says, frowning. “Why? Are you offering? Ginger dickhead obviously wasn't man enough to finish the job.” Hal sways dangerously on his feet for a moment before leaning back against the bar, and his eyes come up to meet Dominic’s, who only realises at that moment that he has been staring at him. “You all right? He didn’t punch you too, did he?”

Dominic quickly averts his eyes and lets out a small chuckle. “No, I’m fine. Sorry, I… never mind.”

Hal continues to frown at him. “Well, as nice as it is to meet a fellow Englishman in this cursed place, I have to ask… what the hell are you doing here?”

“I’m… not even entirely sure where ‘here’ is,” Dominic admits, and Hal’s eyebrows shoot up.

“Gdansk. Poland,” he says, then snorts and shakes his head. “And I thought I was drunk. At least I haven’t lost my marbles completely.”

“I’m sorry,” Dominic says once again. “I’ve been… travelling a lot recently.”

“Huh,” Hal grunts, and one of his hands shoots out to grab the edge of the bar and stop himself from toppling over.

“Perhaps you should sit down,” Dominic suggests. His eyes dart up to Hal’s bleeding cheek then, and he adds, “And you should get that cleaned up.”

“Mmm,” Hal says, and turns around, climbing back up on one of the barstools. He looks around for a moment, reaches over and pulls his tankard back towards him, bringing it up to his mouth.

Dominic watches him with big eyes. “Not really my place to say, but don’t you think you’ve had enough?” he asks cautiously.

Hal huffs into his tankard. “It’s never enough.”

Dominic gives him a careful look, then sits down on an empty barstool next to him and waves over the bartender. The man looks at him and once again asks, “Czego się pan napije?”

“A bowl of water?” Dominic tries, even though he is not very hopeful that he will be understood. Not too surprisingly, the bartender gives him a quizzical look. Dominic gestures over to the cut on Hal’s cheek, and makes a bowl shape with his hands. “Water,” he says, and finally the barman nods, turning away and grabbing a ceramic bowl, filling it with water from a large basin. Then he places it down on the bar in front of them, together with a soft flannel.

Dominic takes the flannel and dunks it in the cold water. “Here, let me,” he says, and lifts the flannel to Hal’s face. Hal turns towards him, a curious look in his eyes.

“Why are you helping me?” he asks, words slurring even more now he has had a fresh dose of alcohol in his system.

“Someone has to,” Dominic says, and carefully dabs the cut on Hal’s cheek, making him wince.

“Ow.” Hal grimaces.

“Sorry.”

“No, don’t worry,” Hal says, shaking his head slightly. Dominic does his best not to poke him in the nose as he moves.

“You need to keep still,” he chides, but gives Hal a small smile to soften his words.

“Fine, whatever.” Hal sighs. After a moment, he adds, “Do you think it’ll at least leave a scar?”

 _Yes_ , Dominic thinks instantly. _I know that scar, I’ve seen it many times on your face._ Outwardly, he shrugs. “I’m not sure.” Then Hal’s words properly sink in, and he adds, “Why, do you want it to scar?”

Hal nods. “Yeah. What was the point of it otherwise? So many scars are invisible, you know? They’re not worth having. I want to have something to show for it all.” He turns away and takes another large gulp of beer, then belatedly realises Dominic was still cleaning his face, and turns back around. “Sorry.”

“It’s all right,” Dominic says, lifting the flannel back up to Hal’s face. The wound is clean now, but it’s still bleeding. Not much chance for a sticky plaster in the 1500s, Dominic muses, and presses the flannel into the wound to try and stop the bleeding. “Hold this on there for a few minutes,” he instructs Hal, who furrows his brows at him, but does as instructed.

They sit in silence for a few minutes, before Hal speaks up again. “What’s your name?”

“Dominic.”

Hal takes another sip of beer, swallows loudly, and says, “Thanks, Dominic. Although I’m still not sure whether I would’ve rather you’d just finished the job.”

Dominic looks at him for a long moment, then clears his throat and asks, “Why do you want to die?”

Hal lets out a humourless chuckle. “I don’t. But I don’t want to stick around here for much longer, either.” He pauses, looks down into his tankard, then asks, “Dominic?”

“Yes?”

“Do you believe in heaven and hell?”

Dominic chokes on his own saliva, coughing for a long moment. When he is finished, he lifts his eyes up to look at Hal. “I do.”

Hal frowns. “Huh. I’ve never actually been to church myself,” he says, words slurring badly now. “Not allowed, you know. But Mathilda…. that’s one of my mothers, she’s dead now… she would sometimes tell me stories of heaven and hell. She was going to become a nun at one point, before… well. Never mind. She believed in God, and the Devil, and heaven and hell. I just… I’m not so sure.” He looks straight back into Dominic’s eyes. “What makes you so sure?”

“I don’t know,” Dominic says quickly, shaking his head.

“Well, either way, I’ll never go to heaven,” Hal continues, and Dominic gives him a sharp look.

“What makes you say that?”

“I’m… not a good person,” Hal says quietly, then turns away to take another mouthful of beer.

“I don’t believe that, Hal,” Dominic replies, and immediately Hal’s head whips around to him, forehead creased.

“Hal?” he muses. “I’ve never heard anyone call me that before. Quite like the sound of it though.” He gives Dominic a small smile, and Dominic feels his cheeks grow hot.

“Listen, Hal… erm… I mean…” he drifts off, takes a deep breath, and adds, “I should go.”

“What?” Hal asks, smile turning into a frown in a fraction of a second. “Why? Where are you going?”

Dominic takes a long look at him, human Hal sitting there hunched over at the bar with the tankard clasped firmly in his left hand while his other hand still presses the blood-soaked flannel to his face. There is a part of him that just wants to stay here, with him, forever. Maybe he could make this version of Hal love him as well, without the blood addiction and all the complications. But he knows that’s not actually an option, and the longer he stays, the more difficult he will make it for himself.

“I have to move on,” Dominic says, and gives Hal a bright smile. “It’s been nice to meet you, Hal.”

Hal lets out a soft laugh. “And you, Dominic. Safe travels.”

“Thank you, Hal,” he says, then turns and walks out of the tavern without another look back.

***

Dominic steps back out into the corridor and heaves a deep sigh. There are tears pricking in the corners of his eyes, and he angrily blinks them away. Looking around him, he once again finds himself alone. The men with sticks and rope seem to have disappeared.

 _All right,_ he thinks to himself. _I’ll play by the rules. How many more memories can they possibly let me go through?_

“Just one,” a female voice says from somewhere further along the corridor, and Dominic turns around to see the senior administrator materialising in front of him. “One more memory, and then you can tell me your verdict,” she says, gesturing towards a bright red painted door further along the corridor.

“Right,” Dominic says, and walks towards the red door, hand stretched out to push it open. “Let’s do this.”

***

The room seems vaguely familiar to Dominic, but it takes him a moment to figure out where and when he has seen it before. When he does, his stomach lurches uncomfortably. He looks around him slowly, taking in three women in long, low-cut, turn-of-the-fifteenth-century dresses, and their demeanour and somewhat compromising positions on two of the patrons’ laps leave him in no doubt of what type of establishment he has just entered.

The third, currently unoccupied woman comes strolling over to Dominic, running her eyes over him with a small, appreciative smile.

“Hello there, sir, can I help you?”

Dominic is taken aback by the soft, deep quality of her voice. The woman looks like she might be in her late twenties or early thirties, with brunette hair that falls around her shoulders in soft waves. Dominic can see that she may have been pretty at one point, but there are lines in her face now that tell a story of a hard, unforgiving life, and the smile she is giving him looks forced and practised. But what strikes him more than anything else are the woman’s eyes…

He knows those eyes, has seen them more times than he can count, has woken up to them in the morning, and seen them as the last thing before he falls asleep at night.

Dominic’s throat constricts, and he is unable to reply for a long moment.

“Cat got your tongue, sweetheart?” the woman teases, and her smile looks a lot more genuine all of a sudden.

“I, erm… excuse me,” Dominic forces out. “Do you mind, I mean, would I be able to ask your name, ma’am?”

The woman laughs deeply at his flustered request. “And why, pray tell, would you like to know this?”

Dominic feels his cheeks burn a deep crimson. “I… please excuse me, ma’am. I shouldn’t have assumed—”

“That man giving you trouble, Florence?”

Dominic whirls around to see a stocky, bearded man approaching them from the direction of the staircase. From the corner of his eye, he can see the woman – Florence? – wince almost imperceptibly at his approach.

“No trouble, Will,” she says quickly. “The gentleman was just about to tell me how we can help him today.” She throws him another charming smile, followed by a wink.

 _Was I?_ Dominic thinks, and swallows. He doesn’t think that he requires any of the offered services, thank you very much.

Both Florence’s and Will’s eyes are on him now, and he continues to blush a deep crimson.

“I… I’m not really… I mean…” Dominic trails off pitifully, not quite sure how to get out of this increasingly awkward situation.

Will’s eyes, however, suddenly light up, and a small smile creeps into his face. Dominic doesn’t like that smile one little bit.

“Florence here not really what ya were after today, sir?” he asks.

“No, I—”

Will doesn’t give him a chance to finish, but his voice drops to a low whisper as he says, “I think I might have what you’re lookin’ for, sir.”

Florence clears her throat next to him, then says, “I trust you will take it from here, Will?” There is an icy undertone in her voice that Dominic is sure wasn’t there before.

“Yes, thank you, Florence. If you’ll follow me, sir. It’s right through this door.” As he speaks, he gestures to a door to his right, then opens it and indicates for Dominic to go through. Dominic finds himself in a spacious room, occupied only by a king-size bed and a large sofa under the window. At the back of the room, there is another door, which is slightly ajar, a ray of light streaming in through the gap.

“Henry!” Will suddenly bellows, and the unexpected noise makes Dominic jump. Then he processes the name the brothel keeper just called, and the bottom drops out of his stomach. _No. Please, no. Not this._

“I-I don’t think—” he begins, voice shaky, but Will cuts him off.

“Don’t worry, sir, ya won’t be disappointed. He’s royalty, this lad. Literally.” He chuckles deeply, and it gives Dominic the shivers. “Bastard son of Prince Richard of York. I’m tellin’ ya, it’s the truth.”

Dominic’s eyes widen. “That’s… quite a claim,” he chokes out. Could it be true? But even if it was, he has more pressing matters to worry about right now.

“Nowt but the truth, I’m tellin’ ya,” Will repeats with an emphatic nod, then follows it with another bellowed “Henry!”

Dominic closes his eyes, wishing himself far away from this place. He doesn’t want to see… he doesn’t want to intrude on this most personal part of Hal’s life. He has no right to be here.

But before he can do anything else, say another word, the door opens and a skinny boy of no more than ten or eleven steps into the room. The boy has a mop of brown hair and lightly tanned skin. He is wearing a simple lace-up linen shirt and brown trousers, no shoes. He brushes his fringe from his face to reveal big, hazel eyes that bore right into Dominic.

“What can I do for you, sir?”

Dominic feels like he is about to be sick.

“I…” he starts, then pauses. His eyes flick towards Will, who is looking between Dominic and… Henry… with an expectant look on his face.

When Dominic doesn’t say anything more, the man says, “Well, I’ll leave ya to it, sir,” and inclines his head towards Dominic, then turns and leaves the room, shutting the heavy wooden door behind him.

“Do you want to take a seat, sir?” Henry asks, and Dominic’s head whips around to face the boy, who is standing in the middle of the room, watching him with a slight furrow in his brow.

Dominic finds himself nodding. “Yes. Why not,” he mumbles, and takes a seat on the sofa by the window. He can feel Henry’s eyes following him around the room, and he chances a look at the boy, who is now taking a few slow steps towards him.

“What can I do for you, sir?” he asks again, and there is a quality to his voice that should not be found in a boy of his age. Dominic fights another wave of nausea. “I could—”

“No!” Dominic says quickly, eyes wide as he takes in the boy before him. “I… I’d just like to talk, if it’s all the same to you,” he adds quietly, and Henry frowns.

“That’s one I haven’t heard before,” he says, and shrugs. “But if that’s what you want.”

“Yes,” Dominic nods. “That’s what I want.”

“Very well,” Henry says, and continues to hover awkwardly in front of Dominic, looking at him expectantly.

Dominic clears his throat and says, “Why don’t you sit down?”

Henry nods, and quickly moves over to the sofa, sitting down next to him. His brow furrows as he looks up at Dominic and asks, “What do you want to talk about, sir?”

 _That’s a very good question,_ Dominic thinks to himself and sighs. Looking at Henry and taking in his big, curious, hazel eyes, he asks, “How old are you?”

Henry frowns, sounding slightly defensive when he replies, “What kind of question is that?”

“I’m sorry,” Dominic says. “I didn’t mean to… you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

“No, _I’m_ sorry, sir,” Henry rushes out, eyes downcast. “I didn’t mean to displease.”

“You didn’t—”

“I’m not very good with numbers, sir,” Henry continues quietly, still not meeting his eyes. "But I think Will said to a customer the other day that I was ten, so I suppose that's probably right. He knows these kinds of things.”

“Listen, Henry, you have no reason to be ashamed just because you haven’t been taught how to count,” Dominic says, and the boy slowly lifts his eyes to look at him.

“Thank you, sir,” he says quietly. “You’re very kind.”

Dominic chances a small smile, and it warms his heart when he sees the smile mirrored on Henry’s face. _God, he looks so much like him_ , he thinks. _But of course he does. It_ is _him._

“Can I… can I ask you a question, sir?” Henry asks then, and Dominic nods.

“Of course you can.”

Henry takes a deep breath, then rushes out, “Why are you so nice to me?”

Dominic’s smile turns sad as he takes in the boy before him. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Henry raises his eyebrows at him. “Well… sorry, sir, no disrespect, but… most others aren’t. Gertie says it’s because we aren’t _respectable,_ so people don’t have to respect us. Because of what we do. But I don’t understand, because it’s just what I’ve been told to do.”

Dominic feels a sharp stab in his heart at the boy’s words. “Don’t let what you do here define you, Henry,” he says, and looking at the boy’s face, he clearly sees the small frown that indicates that he isn’t following what Dominic is talking about. He takes a deep breath and starts again, “What I mean to say is that you are a person, Henry, just like everybody else. You are not worth less because of where you come from, or what you do. Do you understand?”

Henry nods, “I think I do, sir. And actually, Will seems to think that my father was a _prince_ ,” he says, a hint of pride sneaking into his voice, and Dominic can’t help the smile that breaks out on his face.

“So he says,” he confirms.

“Do you think it’s true, sir?”

Dominic shrugs. “I can’t possibly know that, Henry.”

“I think it is,” Henry continues, sounding a lot more animated now that he has finally started to relax in Dominic’s presence. “And one day, I’m going to get away from here, and I'm going to become a knight.”

“A knight?” Dominic asks, a fond smile on his face even as his heart aches for the boy in front of him.

Henry nods enthusiastically. “Yes. And I’m going to ride a horse and have a sword and a red shield.”

Dominic lets out a quite laugh. “A red shield? Why a red one?”

Henry shrugs, eyes wide and sincere when he says, “Red is my favourite colour.”

Dominic feels his throat constrict at the boy’s words, and the laughter dies in his throat.

Henry frowns at him. “Are you all right, sir? Did I say something wrong?”

Dominic jerkily shakes his head. “No, no. I’m sorry, Henry, I… got lost in thought. It’s nothing.”

“If you’re sure, sir,” he says. After a moment of silence, he adds, “If you don’t mind me asking, sir… what do you do?”

“Well, I’m not a knight, as you can probably tell.”

Henry nods. “You look like you might be a merchant. Or a tailor, perhaps.”

Dominic laughs. “No on both accounts, I’m afraid,” he says, then, taking in the boy’s curious expression, adds, “I’m sorry, Henry, I can’t actually tell you what I do. It’s a secret.”

Henry’s eyes grow wide. “A secret? I don’t think I understand, sir.”

“I…” Dominic pauses, thinking of what he can possibly tell him. “I’m responsible for dealing with… dangerous criminals… of a sort.”

Henry’s eyes, if possible, widen even more. “Like a constable?”

Dominic nods. “I suppose so, yes.”

“You’re not… I’m not going to get into trouble, am I, sir?” Henry asks, slowly inching away from him on the sofa. “Will always says we have to be mindful of the constables, because what I do is against the law.” His brow furrows and he adds, almost to himself, “I never really understand why I’m supposed to do it if it’s against the law.” Then he looks back up at Dominic with fear in his eyes. “Is that why you’re here, sir? To arrest me?”

“No,” Dominic says quickly. “Of course not, Henry. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you.”

Henry is about to say something else when there is a loud knock on the door, and Henry’s eyes dart over to it instantly, an apprehensive look in his eyes. The boy swallows nervously a few times, then calls, “Come in.”

The door opens to reveal Will, and Dominic has to control the urge to jump to his feet and punch the man in the face, instead settling on throwing him a narrow-eyed glare. Will’s eyes flick back and forth between himself and Henry on the sofa. “Have ya just been sittin’ there the whole time?” the man asks with a frown, then shakes his head and adds, “Well, whatever ya fancy, sir, long as you’re payin’ up. But if you’re quite finished now,” his eyes come to rest on the boy, “there’s another one waitin’ for ya, Henry.”

Henry’s eyes widen momentarily, before he catches himself and gives Will a small smile and a nod, and Dominic’s heart aches for him. How can he possibly just leave him here, knowing what is going to happen to him?

 _But you’re not here to change the past,_ his rational mind reminds him. _This is just a memory, it’s not real. Nothing you do here will change anything._

Slowly getting to his feet, Dominic turns around to face the boy, who has also stood up and is looking up at him with big hazel eyes. “Thank you, Henry,” he says quietly. “It’s been… a pleasure talking to you.”

“Thank you, sir,” Henry says, and smiles. “Come back anytime.”

Dominic smiles back at him even as he feels his chest constrict, and tears threatening to fall from his eyes again. “I should go.”

He follows Will out of the room and across to the front door, where the man stops, turns around and looks at him expectantly. Dominic rummages in his pockets and pulls out some change. “Here you go,” he mumbles, bile rising in his throat as he puts the money into Will’s outstretched hand. Not meeting the man’s eyes, he manages a small nod before he pushes the door open and quickly exits the building.

***

He finds himself back in Hal’s corridor.

Except, the red door appears to have moved, and as soon as he steps out, his eyes go wide as they take in the back wall, only a few feet away from him, and set in it a sleek black door just like the one at the other end.

“You have made it this far,” the administrator’s voice chimes up, and Dominic turns around to see her standing next to him, giving him a curious look. “What is your decision?”

Dominic huffs and shakes his head. “Did you actually think that showing me all that would make me change my mind? Because let me tell you, in the end, all you achieved is for me to be able to understand Hal better. I told him long ago that I’m going into this thing with my eyes wide open, and I stand by that, if anything even more so now. If you really wanted to dissuade me from freeing him, you would’ve had to try a lot harder than that.”

The woman laughs her horrible, high-pitched laugh. “Who says I tried anything? All I did was give you a balanced overview of what exactly you are letting yourself into. If you still think that it is worth pursuing, then like I said before, you’re free to go.”

Dominic gives her a grim nod. “Then that is what I am going to do,” he says, and pushes open the the heavy black door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Przepraszam" = "Excuse me"
> 
> “Czego się pan napije?” = "What would you like (to drink)?"
> 
> “Chwileczkę” = "Just a moment"
> 
> “Co się dzieje?” = "Something wrong?"


	18. Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> Here's a little fluffy Valentine's Day treat for you guys.
> 
> Enjoy!

So let me go out there  
I can breathe fresh air  
Stay with you all night  
Just let me love you  
Just for a while, want to  
Be with you all night  
Until I fall asleep  
Just let me be here  
I won't tell anyone  
Don't want to wake up

\- Snow Patrol, “An Olive Grove Facing the Sea”

Hal hugs his knees to his chest in a futile attempt to preserve at least a little bit of his nonexistent body heat as he sits on the hard, damp floor. The room is still bathed in perfect darkness, and Hal starts to wonder if his eyes even still work. Does he even still have eyes?

One of his hands comes up to his face, and he runs it over his face, feeling his mouth, his nose, his cheek… yes, his eyes. It comes back down to his mouth, fingertip coming into contact with a sharp fang. He feels the tip of it breaking his skin, and he shoves his finger into his mouth, desperately sucking on the barely there trickle of weak, diluted blood.

“Oh, Hal, are you at it again?” the voice speaks up. The voice has been with him at all times since it first made his appearance all that time ago. He has no idea exactly how much time he has spent here now, there is no way of knowing. All he knows is that the darkness never lifts, the cold never shifts, and the hunger grows stronger with every passing minute. Or whatever passes as a minute in this cursed place.

He can’t even rely on his own heartbeat to count the minutes now, as his heart has stopped beating completely. Understandable, he muses, because he is dead.

“Don’t bother, Hal, it’s not going to help you,” the voice continues, sounding exasperated.

Hal lets the finger fall from his lips and hugs his arms back around his shivering body. The pain in his gut is unbearable now, and at that moment, a particularly violent spasm runs through his body, making him groan. His voice is hoarse and weak and his throat feels raw and sore.

“Please,” he croaks pitifully. “Please, I’ll do anything. Just… just one sip, just to make the pain go away, please…” he drifts off as he hears a cruel laugh above him.

“Hal. Listen to you, you pathetic little loser, begging me for blood.” The voice pauses, sighs, then continues, “I already told you, there is no blood here.”

Hal groans again, and leans his back against the cold wall, and a fierce shiver runs through him. He closes his eyes in a desperate attempt to get to sleep, only for a few minutes, to get away from this, but just like all the times before, sleep eludes him.

“The dead don’t need to sleep, Hal,” the voice taunts. “We want you to be awake for every single moment of this, for the rest of eternity.”

Hal lets out a small whimper, running a shaking hand down his face, searching his thoughts, his memories, for something to hold on to, to keep him from losing his mind completely. What was there? Who? He finds it hard to get his thoughts in order. They seem to be drifting further and further away from him, the longer he is here. Home, he thinks. Start with home… his mothers. What were their names? Catherine, Charlotte… Catherine… Charlotte… Florence… Annie— no, not Annie. No. Annie was from a different time, a different life. Annie and… Tom… and… Sylvie— no, he’s got it wrong again.

Alex. Yes. Tom and Alex. They live with him at the house in… Southend— no, Barry. Barry. But not now, because they’re dead. He’s dead. They’re all dead. And there was someone else… someone who kept coming back to him, who shouldn’t have, but did anyway, like he just couldn’t let go of him… Cutler? Cutler. He was so pleased to see him again. So pleased.. and he gave him blood… oh, he needs some blood now. He’s so hungry, so hungry…

But Cutler’s dead, too… isn’t he? Alex said… she said Cutler was dead. So who was the one… the one that kept coming back to him?

“Oh, don’t tell me you’ve forgotten, Hal?” the voice speaks up, taunting him.

“I haven’t forgotten,” he croaks, even while his mind desperately searches for a name… he remembers him… he has blue eyes, the most beautiful eyes he has ever seen… he hasn’t forgotten…

“Dominic,” he rasps finally, closing his eyes and grimacing as another cold shiver runs through him.

“Hal?” a voice says above him then, and it’s a new voice, a different one, one that he hasn’t heard here before. His head shoots up and he opens his eyes, only to be greeted by a sliver of bright light from somewhere above him. His eyes widen even as he blinks furiously at the sudden brightness. The dark outline of a figure appears in the blinding light, and Hal squints to get a better look.

The figure seems to be moving towards him, and Hal’s nostrils are suddenly assaulted by the most delicious smell. Oh, that smell… he recognises it. What is it? Something inside him makes him push away from the wall, to get to his feet and move closer to that smell, but his knees buckle under his weight and he collapses back to the floor.

“Don’t try to get up, Hal. I’ll help you,” the voice says, and it doesn’t sound anything like the other one. This one sounds caring and gentle and… no. It must be a trick. There is nothing caring and gentle in this place.

“No,” he croaks, shying away from the approaching figure and pressing his body into the wall. “Don’t do this. Not him. Don’t pretend to be him, please.”

“Hal, it’s me,” the voice says, and Hal lets out a small sob.

“Of course you’d say that,” he whispers, curling up in a ball against the damp wall. “Stay away from me, please.”

“Hal,” the voice says with a sigh. “Trust me. It’s me, I’m here to get you out of here.” The figure comes to a stop in front of him, and Hal’s nostrils flare at the wonderful, wonderful smell that is all around him now. Before he even knows he is doing it, he feels himself baring his fangs and growling low in his throat at the looming figure above him. “Hal,” the figure says again, sounding guarded now and taking a careful step back, out of his reach. “Fight it, Hal. You don’t want to attack me.”

Hal frowns at the figure’s words. He sounds just like Dominic, and he doesn’t want to attack Dominic. But it can’t be him, because he’s not dead. He’s not here. He can’t be.

“I don’t believe you,” he rasps, and the air vibration tickles his painful throat and makes him cough.

The figure moves in, then, and crouches down in front of him, reaching out and cupping his face. “Open your eyes, Hal,” he says, and Hal does, only then realising that he had closed them in the first place.

In front of him, in the light shining in from the open doorway somewhere above them, he sees a familiar face. Pale and wide-eyed, but so painfully familiar.

“Dominic,” he breathes.

Dominic nods. “Yes, Hal. It’s me. I’ve come to get you out of here.”

“How…?” Hal asks, then explodes in another coughing fit.

“Don’t talk,” Dominic says soothingly, and his hands on his face are so, so warm. “I’ll explain everything once we’re out of this awful place.”

Dominic moves back then, and Hal lets out a small whimper at the loss of contact. “Shh, I’m not going anywhere,” Dominic says, and Hal feels an arm coming around his back, pulling him up. He lifts his own, shaking arm to come to lie around Dominic’s shoulders and leans heavily on his slim frame, but Dominic doesn’t buckle under the additional weight. He straightens up and turns towards the staircase that Hal hadn’t even known was there. “Careful, Hal. Just take one step at a time,” Dominic instructs as they reach the stairs, and with an enormous effort, they make their slow way up towards the open door.

Hal’s eyes hurt at the sudden change in light when they step through into a familiar looking corridor. Dominic leads him down the corridor with determined steps, and Hal does his best to keep up, even as his legs threaten to give way under him and the continued assault of that irresistible smell makes his stomach contract. It feels like they walk for a small eternity, and Dominic has to stop several times to catch his breath as he half drags, half carries Hal along with him, but eventually they come to a stop in front of a black metal door, and Dominic reaches out his free hand to turn the handle. The door swings open, and Hal lets his eyes wander over the large busy room that he vaguely remembers from when he first arrived.

“Now all we need to do is find Alex, and we’re out of here,” says Dominic next to him, his arm still firmly around Hal’s shivering body, holding him up.

Hal can feel eyes on him from every direction, watching him and Dominic making their slow way across the room. He keeps his own eyes firmly on the floor as he concentrates on staying upright and setting one foot in front of the other.

“Alex?” Dominic calls out next to him, and then again, louder, “Alex!”

Suddenly, there is movement to their right, and Hal chances a look just in time to see a familiar face emerging from the sea of strangers all around them, running towards them and throwing her arms around the two of them.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe you actually made it,” Alex says, voice muffled where her head is buried in Hal’s shoulder. “I can’t believe you’re actually here.”

They stand like that, in this awkward, three-way embrace, for a long, silent moment, before Dominic pulls away slightly from Alex and tightens his grip around Hal.

“Come on, let’s go,” Dominic says, indicating a nondescript looking door to their left, next to the surly woman at the ticket dispenser. He pulls Hal along in the direction of the door, but Hal is immediately aware that Alex is not following. After a few steps, Dominic seems to cotton on as well, as he stops in his tracks and turns back towards her. “Alex? Are you coming?”

Hal looks over his shoulder to see the ghost frowning at them. “I’m not sure if I can,” she says, and then quickly adds, “Or if I should, even.”

Dominic noticeably tenses next to him. “What do you mean?” he asks.

Alex sighs. “Dominic, you’re alive, and Hal… well, basically… you guys are supposed to be out there, in the living world. Me… I kinda feel like I belong here. Like maybe, I don’t know, I should stay—”

“No,” Dominic says firmly, shaking his head. “No, I didn’t do all of this just for you to leave us now. I got the go-ahead to take you back with me. Please, just… come with us, Alex.”

Hal lifts his head towards his friend then, focusing his aching eyes on her and trying to muster a small smile. “I agree, Alex,” he croaks. “It’s not time for you yet. And someone will have to keep me company in that cellar.” He feels Dominic’s sharp eyes on him at that last statement, but decides to ignore them, keeping his own eyes firmly on Alex.

She looks back and forth between the two of them, forehead creased, obviously deeply in thought for a long moment. Then she gives one quick nod of the head. “Okay, guys,” she says. “Lead the way.”

Hal immediately feels the tension seep out of Dominic’s body, and he turns back around to the door, slowly leading Hal towards it. The old woman next to it gives them a curious look as they approach, but stands aside and allows Dominic to open the door.

They find themselves in another corridor, and Hal looks around himself with a small frown. “Whose is this?” he asks.

“Mine,” Dominic answers darkly.

“Wow, so these are your doors?” Alex pipes up, looking left and right as they make their way down the corridor.

Dominic nods. “Yes, but apparently, there’s nothing behind them yet.”

“Huh,” Alex says, frowning slightly as she gives the doors another close look. “That’s kinda creepy.”

After another few minutes’ walk, they finally make it to the end of the corridor, and Hal lifts his eyes to look at the three men who are standing guard at the end of the corridor, blocking their way through to the door.

They come to a stop a few feet away from the men, and Dominic once again tightens his hold on Hal as he faces them. “We have permission to leave from the senior administrator,” he says firmly, but Hal clearly hears his heartbeat speeding up and feels the slight tremor that runs through his body as he speaks.

“You should never have come here, human,” one of the men speaks up, and gives Dominic a chilling smile. “I hope you know that you won’t just walk away from this.”

Dominic swallows. “I’m not afraid of you,” he says. “I will get out of here, as are my two friends, and you are not going to stop us.”

The man’s smile widens into a bizarre grimace. “We don’t intend to stop you. You will come back to us soon enough.”

Hal frowns and throws the man a sharp look. “What do you mean by that?” he asks.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” the man says, and then he steps away from the door, gesturing to the other two men to do the same.

Dominic walks them forward a step and puts his hand on the door handle. The door swings open, and the three of them walk through into the cold, dark night.

***

Dominic takes a careful look around him as soon as they step back through the door. They are in the same exact spot where he shot Hatch, and the old man’s body is still lying slumped over on the floor next to the red brick wall. Turning around, he sees that the door has disappeared, and the wall is once again solid.

Hal is still leaning on him for support, but less heavily than before. Dominic adjusts his arm around Hal’s frame as his eyes continue to wander across the scene in front of them. He slowly becomes aware that the place is now crawling with people. There are ambulance crews, fire brigade, police, of course, but also just regular people, walking the streets, searching for loved ones. Dominic looks around them again when suddenly, he realises that there is someone missing.

“Alex?” he calls, eyes darting around and around in a bid to find her.

“I’m still here, Blondie,” her voice answers from somewhere on his left, and he whirls around to face her. “Guess the whole being able to see ghosts thing only worked while you were in purgatory.”

Dominic nods. “I guess you’re right.” Then his attention returns to Hal, who has taken his arm off of his shoulder and is slowly inching away from him. “Hal?” he asks, facing him with a small frown.

Hal looks at him with wide, unbelieving eyes. “You saved me,” he says, voice starting to sound a little less croaky now he has had the chance to breathe some fresh air.

“I did,” Dominic says with a nod.

“Why?” Hal asks, and Dominic lets out a small sound halfway between a laugh and a sob.

“Because I love you, you idiot. Do you really think I could just leave you in that place?”

Hal’s brow furrows. “How did you—”

“Not now, Hal,” Dominic interrupts. “I’ll tell you all of it, I promise, but not now, not here.” He looks around them once more, at all the people wandering the streets, not really paying them any attention as they search for other survivors.

He sees Hal’s eyes following his gaze, as if he is only now becoming aware of the other humans all around them, and for one horrible moment he thinks that Hal might run off and start another massacre. But then Hal’s eyes come back to rest on him. “I need to go,” he says quietly, and Dominic can hear the familiar tension that is slowly creeping back into his voice.

 _No,_ he thinks. _No, you’re not doing this to me again._

“Alex?” he asks, turning in the direction of the ghost.

“Yes?”

“I would like you to take Hal home. I have to go and… pick up some things, and then I will meet you at the house.”

“Erm... okay?” Alex says, at the same time as Hal asks, “What do you mean, meet us at the house?”

Dominic gives him a wide-eyed look. “If you thought that I would just go back to Cardiff and leave you to sit in your cellar and call you to get you off over the phone—”

“Whoa, too much information, guys,” Alex throws in.

“—then I’m sorry to say it’s not going to happen, Hal,” he finishes, ignoring Alex’s interjection as much as the blush that is creeping into his cheeks.

Hal takes a purposeful step back from him. “So what are you proposing?” he asks cautiously.

Dominic takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, and says, “I’m moving in with you.”

There is a moment of stunned silence, before Hal huffs loudly and says, “Out of the question.”

Dominic opens his eyes and finds Hal looking back at him with a deep frown on his face. He slowly shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Hal, but I didn’t go all the way to fucking _hell_ and back for you to tell me that we can’t ever see each other again.”

“But we can’t, Dominic!” Hal bites out, voice sounding pained, but determined. “It’s not s—”

“Hal,” Dominic cuts him off, taking a step forward to once again close the gap that Hal created between them. He reaches up to cup Hal’s face in both of his hands, tilts his head down and looks deeply into his eyes. “Shut up,” he whispers, and presses his lips to Hal’s in a firm but gentle kiss.

He feels Hal’s hesitation for a brief moment, but then Hal’s lips start moving against his own, and Hal’s hands come up and around Dominic’s waist, holding him close to him. Dominic lets out a contented little sigh against Hal’s mouth before moving in again to continue the kiss.

All that exists for Dominic in that moment is Hal and that kiss, the kiss that he waited such a long time for, and he almost jumps out of his skin when somewhere to his left, Alex suddenly pipes up, “As touching as this is guys, can we maybe get a move on?”

Dominic lets out a surprised laugh against Hal’s mouth, and he can feel a small smile break out on Hal’s lips in response. Letting his hands fall away from Hal’s face, he reluctantly moves back a step and says, “All right, let’s go.”

“You ready, Hal?” Alex asks, and Hal turns around to face her, heaving a deep sigh.

“I can’t say I’m a fan of that mode of transport,” he says, then takes another look around them. An ambulance crew has arrived to load Captain Hatch’s body onto a stretcher, and Hal watches them for a long moment, swallowing repeatedly. “But at the moment I guess anything is better than sticking around here for much longer.”

“Okay then,” Alex says. “See you later, Blondie.” And with a whoosh of air, Hal disappears from right in front of his eyes.

Dominic clears his throat and starts walking in the opposite direction, back towards his car. A minute into the walk, he can feel his phone vibrating in his pocket, and he pulls it out, expecting it to be Alex. A frown breaks out on his face when he instead sees _Alistair Frith calling_ in bright white letters.

He lifts the phone to his ear and carefully says, “Hello?”

“Dominic!” Alistair’s voice sounds through the speaker. “What in heaven’s name is going on? I’ve heard of some kind of massacre over in Barry, and I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for the last three hours.”

“Three hours?” Dominic asks faintly, thinking, _I feel like I’ve been gone for three days._

“Yes,” Alistair confirms. “What happened, Dominic? Can you give me an update?”

“I… It was…” he pauses, heaving a big sigh. “It was the Devil. He… escaped from the hotel and went onto some kind of rampage. I’m not even sure yet exactly how—”

“Didn’t I send you back to Cardiff to keep an eye on the situation, Dominic?” Alistair bellows.

“I know, Alistair. I’m sorry. But you will be pleased to know that the Devil has finally been defeated.”

Alistair is silent for a long moment before replying, “Are you absolutely certain, Dominic?”

“Yes,” Dominic says firmly. “I shot him. He’s dead.”

“If you were able to just shoot him, why haven’t you done that before now?” Alistair asks, sounding confused.

Dominic lets out another sigh. “There was more to it than that, Alistair. Certain… conditions had to be met. We had to make very specific preparations—”

“By ‘we’, do you mean you and those supernatural freaks you have decided to consort with?” Alistair asks, and Dominic can clearly hear the distaste in his voice. It makes his hackles rise.

“They are not ‘freaks’, Alistair. They are people. And I will send you a full report once I actually get a chance to sit down and write. As things stand, I am still in Barry at the moment, and I would rather like to get home and get a few hours sleep, if it’s all the same to you. I’ve… had a long day.”

“I understand that, Dominic,” Alistair says, sounding almost sympathetic. “But I do have to say that I have concerns about the nature of your relationship with those… creatures. The Type 2 most of all.”

Dominic swallows thickly. “Understood,” he says tensely. “I’ll speak to you tomorrow.” And without waiting for a reply, he disconnects the call.

Looking ahead of him, he can see his car in the distance, sitting where he left it in the middle of the road. Swiftly walking towards it, he opens the driver’s door and climbs in, making a u-turn and slowly, carefully driving out of the devastated town and back onto the road to Cardiff.

***

Dominic knocks on the door of Honolulu Heights, a bag slung over his shoulder. He didn’t waste a lot of time in his flat and only packed what he felt was going to be essential for the next few days, deciding that there would be more than enough time for him to go back and collect the rest of his things once they had all properly settled in.

Dominic’s eyes widen slightly as the door opens seemingly on its own accord, and a moment later Alex says, “Hey there, Blondie. You know, if I’d known you were planning to move in, I would’ve got the place tidied up a bit.”

He lets out a small laugh. “Don’t worry, there’ll be more than enough time for that.” Then a small frown spreads on his face as he adds, “I hope you don’t mind that I decided to just… invite myself.”

“Well, now you say it…” Alex starts, and Dominic’s eyes widen before she rolls her eyes, sighs dramatically and adds, “No, of course I don’t mind. Don’t know about Tom, of course, but, far as I’m concerned, the more, the merrier. As long as you know what you’re doing with… you know.”

He nods. “I do, Alex. I… had plenty of time to think about this when I was in Hal’s corridor—”

“You were _where_?” Alex asks, but he chooses to ignore her and continue.

“—and I came to the conclusion that he will never get better around humans if he keeps locking himself away. What he did with Leo and Pearl… it’s not sustainable. We will have to find some other way.”

“I agree,” Alex says, “but I also want you to be safe. I don’t really fancy having to call another ambulance for you.”

 _You will come back to us soon enough._ The man’s voice echoes in Dominic’s mind, making him shiver involuntarily.

“I don’t intend to die any time soon,” he says, giving Alex a small smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. He walks further into the house then, and the inner porch door falls shut behind him. Dominic takes a look into the deserted living room and asks, “Where’s Hal?”

“In the cellar,” Alex replies immediately, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

Dominic frowns. “I don’t want him to be down there, Alex.”

“But Dominic, he’s not—”

“I thought I already said that locking him away isn’t the answer,” he says exasperatedly as he starts walking towards the cellar stairs. He feels Alex following him downstairs, but she doesn’t say anything more, and wordlessly opens the lock on the door for him.

Hal’s head whips up from where he is sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, and he looks up at him with utter exhaustion in his eyes. “Dominic,” he breathes, and Dominic can see the tension building in his shoulders as his eyes wander over him, even as he barely has enough energy to keep it up.

Dominic takes a deep breath and slowly walks towards him, holding out his hand. “Come on, Hal,” he prompts, and Hal once again looks up at him, his brow furrowing in confusion.

“What do you mean?” he asks.

“I want you to come with me.”

Hal’s eyes flick between Dominic’s face and his outstretched hand for a long moment, before he hesitantly reaches out and places his own cool hand into his. Dominic has a sudden flashback to human Hal, sitting on the floor next to the bar, the hand in his own so warm, so alive. Shaking off the unhelpful thought, he pulls Hal to his feet and holds on to his hand as he starts walking back up the cellar stairs, and then up the other flight of stairs towards Hal’s bedroom, and Hal wordlessly follows him, still too weak and tired to put up much of a fight.

Once there, Dominic turns around to Hal and says, “I don’t know about you, but I could really do with a good night’s sleep.”

Hal, to Dominic’s surprise, manages to give him a small smile. “I feel like I haven’t slept for weeks.”

Dominic returns his smile. “Well, I guess that’s decided then,” he says, and pulls Hal over towards the bed.

“Dominic—” Hal starts, but Dominic whips around to him, shakes his head and places a finger on Hal’s lips.

“Shh,” he says. “Don’t, Hal, please. Just… go with it. We’ll be fine.”

Dominic reaches up to undo his tie and unbutton his waistcoat and shirt, letting them fall to the floor before stepping out of his trousers. Then he moves the covers back on Hal’s bed and climbs inside, giving Hal an expectant look. His eyes lighten up when he sees Hal also undress down to his boxers, and he slowly, hesitantly, lies down on the bed next to him. Hal’s bed is decidedly too narrow for the two of them to comfortably sleep in, but that is something they can worry about another day, Dominic decides. For now, all he wants is to know that Hal is here with him, safe and sound, and to finally get some sleep.

Moving in to lay his head down on Hal’s shoulder, he lets his arm fall across his abdomen, and after a moment of Hal just lying there, unmoving and tense, he feels Hal slowly relax, and his arm snaking around Dominic’s back, holding him close to him. Hal’s head turns towards him, and Dominic feels the slightest pressure of cool lips against his temple, making him smile.

“Good night, Hal,” he says quietly, contentedly, closing his eyes.

“Good night, Blondie,” Hal breathes against the side of his head, and it’s the last thing Dominic hears before he drifts off into a deep, peaceful sleep.


	19. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!

I'll hold on to your heart  
Is this all you've got to break my fall  
The worst that you can say  
Through this hurt

\- Brigade, “I’ll Be Your Emergency”

Dominic wakes to sunlight streaming in through the window and the sound of a fast spinning, slightly squeaky wheel somewhere to his right. He frowns slightly as he rolls over towards the offending noise and opens his eyes.

Hal, clad in just a pair of black jeans, is sitting on the ancient exercise bike, furiously pedalling away. He is facing away from Dominic and, as far as he can tell, hasn’t noticed him waking up, so Dominic takes a moment to watch Hal’s naked back, a sheen of sweat clearly visible on his pale skin. Dominic props himself up on his elbows, and the movement must have alarmed Hal, who immediately stops pedalling and turns around to give him a fleeting, pensive look before averting his eyes again.

“You’re awake,” Hal states, staring at a point on the floor next to the bed.

“I am,” Dominic says. “So are you.”

Hal nods, still not meeting his eyes. “Yes.”

“Have you been up for long?” Dominic asks, pointedly ignoring Hal’s cold demeanour.

Hal sighs. “About an hour.”

Dominic raises his eyebrows at him. “You’ve been pedalling on that thing for an hour?”

“No,” Hal says tensely. “If you must know, I did two hundred press-ups first. Then I sat down and tried to read but you were… too… distracting…” he trails off and swings his leg over the exercise bike, walking over to his wardrobe and wordlessly pulling out a fresh set of clothes. Dominic’s eyes follow him around the room as he shuts the wardrobe and walks across the room to the door, still not giving Dominic a single look.

Hal is just about to leave the room when Dominic calls out, “Hal, wait.”

“I need a shower,” Hal says, frozen in place with his hand hovering over the door handle.

Dominic swallows and says, “So do I.”

This finally prompts Hal to turn around to him, and the look he gives him is pure incredulity. “No,” he says.

Dominic sighs, holding Hal’s gaze. “Hal, please.”

Hal shakes his head with a huff. “Please what, Dominic? Please let’s go shower together so we don’t make too much of a mess when I rip your throat out?”

Dominic squeezes his eyes shut. “You won’t,” he says, and Hal lets out another loud huff.

“I wish I had your confidence in my self-control.”

“Hal,” Dominic starts, climbing out of bed and walking towards the other. He stops a few feet away from Hal, watching his eyes widen and his nostrils flare at his approach. He looks straight into Hal’s panicked eyes and says, “You have to start trusting yourself more. I don’t believe that you are going to kill me, and neither should you.”

He can see Hal’s Adam’s apple rising and falling repeatedly as he looks at him. “No, Dominic. I’m sorry, but I… can’t give you what you want. I suggest you go and—” he stops abruptly then, clears his throat and averts his eyes. After a moment of silence, he continues in a quiet, measured voice, “I suggest that you go and find yourself another vampire. It clearly wouldn’t be the first time.”

Dominic eyes widen and he can feel all blood draining from his face as he follows Hal’s gaze to the two fresh puncture marks on his neck. With all the events of the previous evening, he had all but forgotten about his meeting with Carl earlier in the day, the evidence of which is now clearly visible on his naked skin. He swallows compulsively to try and get rid of the lump forming in his throat. “Hal, listen, I can explain,” he starts, but it sounds lame even to his own ears, and predictably, Hal lets out a humourless laugh.

“Can you indeed?”

Dominic closes his eyes and gives a small shake of his head. “No, I can’t. I… it was… I made a stupid mistake, Hal, and I’m so, so sorry.”

He opens his eyes when Hal doesn’t respond, and finds him looking back at him with a crease in his brow. Hal doesn’t say anything for the longest time, then turns away from Dominic and back towards the door. “Yeah, whatever,” he bites out, and opens the door.

“Hal,” Dominic says, taking a small step forwards, but Hal doesn’t respond, doesn’t look at him as he walks out into the hallway and shuts the door behind him.

Dominic is left standing in the empty bedroom, staring at the closed door, a heavy sigh escaping his lips as his heart aches sharply in his chest. This is not how this was supposed to go. How could he forget about the bite marks?

 _You were tired,_ he reminds himself. _You were exhausted. It was an easy mistake to make._

And it’s not like he wouldn’t have told Hal anyway, is it? He would have come clean, would have had to, just not… like this. He stands in the middle of the room for a long moment, unmoving, before taking a few steps backwards and heavily sinking back down on the bed. He heaves another deep sigh and lets his head fall into his hands.

He can hear the faint sound of the shower running in the bathroom across the hall, and there is a dull ache in his chest as he listens out for the sound of Hal’s movements under the steady spray. Minutes feel like hours as he waits for Hal to finish his shower, with the tiniest hope of him coming back into the room afterwards, for them to be able to talk things through, to come to an understanding, to move on. But all he hears is the bathroom door opening, and Hal’s quick footsteps in the hallway outside and then growing quieter as he makes his way downstairs.

Dominic takes a deep breath, straightens up and walks over to his travel bag, getting out a pair of chinos and a particularly high-collared polo shirt. No point in parading his indiscretions in front of everyone for the rest of the day. Carrying his clothes in one hand, he quickly makes his way across the hall and into the bathroom, starting the shower again and hoping that Hal will have left him a sufficient amount of hot water in the boiler.

He swiftly gets undressed and steps under the inviting spray, the water so hot that it makes goose bumps rise on his skin. He shampoos his hair and soaps up his body, furiously scrubbing at his skin to wash away the stench of death that still seems to be lingering on him from that awful place. He is just about to turn off the shower when he notices a trickle of something red landing amongst the water in the shower basin. He frowns and instinctively reaches up to his neck, but the wounds have both scabbed over and his hand comes away clean. He moves his hand up to wipe his nose, and immediately sees a streak of red on the back of his hand before it is washed away.

He turns off the shower, and without the hot water running down his face, he can feel the unmistakable warm trickle down his upper lip. His tongue comes out almost reflexively, licking away some of the blood, and he grimaces and spits it into the shower basin. Opening the shower doors, he carefully steps out, wraps a towel around himself and walks over to the sink, trying to take a look at himself in the steamed-up mirror. His eyes widen as he notices two words slowly appearing in the steam.

COME BACK

Dominic’s heart speeds up as he reads the message. “Alex?” he asks tentatively, looking around himself even though he knows he wouldn’t be able to see her. “If this is your idea of a joke, it’s not a very good one.”

But there is only silence in response, and Dominic lifts up a hand to wipe the steam away from the mirror, the eerie message making way for his reflection, and now he can clearly see the small trickle of blood from both of his nostrils. He frowns at his reflection for a moment, wiping some of the blood off his face with a paper tissue before leaning forward over the sink and pinching his nose in order to make it stop bleeding. What feels like a small eternity later, the trickle finally dries up, and Dominic straightens and turns on the tap, taking extra care to wash all of the blood off his face and hands. He can’t possibly risk Hal being able to smell it on him.

Once he is satisfied that both he and the room are as clean and blood-free as they possibly can be, he dries himself off, gets dressed and makes his way downstairs and into the kitchen to get some breakfast.

As soon as he enters the room, his eyes fall on Hal, who is sitting at the table, holding a cup of tea between his hands that doesn’t look like it has much of a chance of actually being drunk. There is another cup sitting on the table across from him, and Dominic can feel Alex’s presence in the chair in front of it. Neither of them is saying anything, but when Hal notices Dominic standing in the doorway, he immediately turns towards him, looking at him with an unreadable expression on his face before quickly turning away again.

“Morning, Blondie,” Alex says. “Sleep well?”

“Yes, thank you,” Dominic replies distractedly, eyes still fixed on Hal, who is pointedly looking away from him and into his untouched tea cup.

“Is something the matter?” Alex asks, obviously picking up on the negative vibes in the room.

Hal clenches his teeth and says, “Nothing, Alex.”

“Oookay,” Alex says, clearly unconvinced. After a moment, when Dominic still hovers awkwardly in the doorway, she adds, “Would you like a cup of tea, Dominic? Something to eat? I think the bread’s gone mouldy, with Tom being the only one eating anything at all in this place now, but I’m pretty sure we’ve got some Cheerios left in the cupboard.”

Dominic sends a small smile in her direction. “Cheerios are fine, Alex, thank you.”

He walks over to the kitchen counter and switches on the kettle before grabbing a mug and a bowl and preparing his tea and cereal. Once he has finished both, he carries them over to the table, only for Hal to immediately get up and move towards the door.

Dominic stops halfway between the counter and the table, his eyes following Hal. “Stay, Hal. Please.”

Hal sighs. “Dominic, I really don’t think—”

“Please,” Dominic says again, looking at Hal with big, imploring eyes, and Hal looks back at him for a long, silent moment.

“Fine,” he says eventually, and sits back down, eyes once again fixed on his tea cup.

Dominic sits in the empty chair between Hal and Alex, and it doesn’t escape him that Hal slowly inches away from him towards the other end of the table, to bring as much distance between them in the small space as he possibly can. Dominic’s heart sinks.

“Hal,” he says carefully and, shooting a nervous glance in Alex’s direction, adds, “I’m so sorry.”

“You’ve already said that,” says Hal.

“Yes, but—”

“Dominic,” Hal cuts in and shoots him a warning glance. “Not now. We’ll talk about this later.”

Dominic nods and turns towards his breakfast, taking a spoonful of Cheerios. A heavy silence falls at the table as he eats, before Alex speaks up, “Is anyone going to tell me what’s going on?”

Both of them turn towards the ghost then, and Hal quietly says, “It’s nothing,” at the same time as Dominic blurts out, “Carl.”

“Oh shit,” Alex breathes, and the words are followed by another silence, if anything even heavier than before. Dominic can feel Hal’s sharp eyes boring into him, but now it is his turn to stare pointedly into his cereal bowl, afraid of what he might see in Hal’s eyes if he looks up.

“Carl?” Hal repeats, acid in his voice.

Dominic nods. “He was the vampire who…” he drifts off, squeezing his eyes shut.

Hal is silent again for a long time, and his next words are not directed at Dominic at all, but at Alex. “And you knew,” he says with accusation in his voice.

Alex sighs. “Yes, I did.”

“You should have told me.”

“I’m sorry, Hal,” Alex says, “but it really wasn’t my place to tell you.”

“No?” Hal snaps. “Not even when Tom told us about Carl and Pedro fighting because Carl was allegedly having an _affair_?”

“What?” Dominic throws in, confused eyes darting back and forth between Hal and Alex.

“That’s how Hatch managed to get his power back,” Alex explains with a sigh. “He set you all up so that Pedro would get jealous and attack Carl.”

Dominic’s breath catches in his throat at the implications of what Alex has just told him. He looks back down into his cereal bowl, voice filled with guilt and disbelief when he says, “It’s all my fault. All of it. If I hadn’t—”

“He played you, Dominic,” Hal throws in. “You were just his pawn, there was nothing you could have done to stop it.”

“That’s not true, Hal,” he says with a frown. “I shouldn’t have allowed him to…” he trails off and his eyes grow wide as he sees Hal’s hand moving across the table to come to lightly rest on top of his own. It is the first touch Hal has initiated between the two of them since… since the attack. Dominic looks up and is startled to see Hal looking back at him with big hazel eyes.

“What happened with Hatch wasn’t your fault,” he says with conviction, and Dominic chances a small smile in his direction. But Hal doesn’t smile back, and a small crease appears between his brows as he continues, “What I still don’t understand is how you were able to—”

In that moment, there is the unmistakable sound of the front door opening, and heavy footsteps fall along the hallway towards the kitchen. Dominic looks up as a moment later, the door opens and Tom steps into the room, covered in dirt and wearing only a black suit jacket and a pair of bright red swim shorts. When his eyes fall on his two friends sitting at the table, he stops in his tracks, eyebrows drawing together and mouth hanging open in disbelief.

“I thought ya were gone,” he breathes, and Dominic turns around just in time to see Hal giving his friend a small smile. At the same time, he can hear a squeal and feel a rush of air on his other side as Alex has obviously thrown herself at her friend, who is hugging her back tightly. “How are ya not dead?” Tom asks after a moment, glancing at Hal.

“Well, technically—” Hal starts, but Tom gives him an exasperated look.

“Hal.”

Hal throws a pensive look in Dominic’s direction and says, “I was just wondering that myself.”

Dominic is just about to open his mouth to reply when Alex says loudly, “Tom, why don’t you sit down. I’ll get you some breakfast and a cuppa.”

“Yeah, all right,” Tom says and takes a seat in the only remaining chair at the table, across from Dominic. “But I haven’t got long. Gotta get cleaned up an’ changed so I can go to the hospital an’ find Tasha.”

Dominic takes a sharp breath. “What happened to Tasha?” he asks.

“She was—” Tom starts, but he never gets to finish as Alex speaks up once more.

“Maybe we should all sit down and talk this through from the beginning?” she suggests, and another bowl of Cheerios and a cup of tea appear on the table in front of Tom, who gratefully tucks in straight way. “I think there’s a lot of things some of us don’t know, and we should really all be on the same page, right?”

Dominic nods. “I agree, Alex.”

“All right,” Hal says, looking between the three of them. “Who wants to go first?”

Dominic heaves a deep sigh and says, “I think that should probably be me…”

For the next few minutes, each one of them fills in the rest of the group about the events leading up to the fateful incident the previous night. Tom grimaces in distaste when Dominic reluctantly opens his collar to show the bite marks on his neck, and Dominic blanches at Tom’s account of the fight in the restaurant at the Barry Grand.

“You’re sure she’s alive?” Dominic asks anxiously.

Tom nods. “Yeah, like, I made sure the ambulance got there before I left. They said she’d lost a lot of blood, but that she was gonna be fine.”

Dominic lets out a breath of relief. “Thank god.”

“So that brings us up to the actual ritual,” Alex says. “I guess it’s over to you again from there, Dominic.”

Dominic swallows, eyes falling first on Hal, then on Tom, and finally on the empty chair where Alex is sitting. “You already know a fair amount of this,” he says to Alex, before once again recounting his conversation with Hatch. His eyes wander back down to his cereal bowl as he talks, afraid to see the others’ reactions to what he is saying.

“…and then I… shot him in the head,” he finishes, and slowly lifts his eyes back up to look at Hal, who stares back at him with deep frown lines on his face.

“You did what?” he asks, his voice very quiet, as if he doesn’t fully trust himself to speak.

“I shot him in the head?” Dominic replies, but Hal shakes his head.

“No. Before that. Are you seriously telling me that you made a deal… with Hatch?”

Dominic looks back at Hal for a long moment before giving him a small nod.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Hal suddenly bellows, and Dominic reflexively flinches away from him.

“I had to do something,” Dominic says in a small voice, but Hal just shakes his head again.

“I can’t believe this.”

“I told you it was bad,” Alex says to Dominic, and Hal glares at her.

“That’s a bit of an understatement.”

Dominic clears his throat. “Really, Hal, I don’t understand what’s such a big deal about—”

“God, you really think you’re invincible, don’t you?” Hal scoffs. “You killed the Devil, and now you think nothing can touch you. That’s why you’re so convinced that I won’t hurt you, as well, isn’t it?”

“I…” Dominic starts, but isn’t sure how to continue. There is a little voice at the back of his mind that whispers, _He’s right._

“Isn’t it?” Hal asks again, eyes dark and stormy as they meet his.

Dominic swallows, opens his mouth, but still isn’t sure how to respond.

“Maybe we should… move on,” Alex suggests, and Dominic has never been more grateful for any suggestion in his life.

“Thank you, Alex,” he says and gives her a small nod. Then he takes a deep breath and starts into a detailed account of his journey through purgatory, and Hal’s corridor. He leaves out the exact details of the memories he visited, thinking that he might talk to Hal about them in private some other time. By the time he gets to him actually entering Hal’s room at the end of the corridor, there are two pairs of wide eyes staring at him in utter disbelief, and he can feel a third pair boring into him from the empty chair to his right.

“Unbelievable,” Alex breathes. “I had no idea that’s what she got you to do.”

“Yes,” Dominic says with a sigh. “God knows why she did it. Probably just playing some kind of game with me.” He shrugs. “Whatever it was, it doesn’t matter now.”

“You’re right,” Alex says. “At the end of the day, the important thing is, we’re… all still here. We made it, guys. Hatch is gone and… we’re still here.”

“Yeah,” Hal huffs and abruptly jumps up from his chair, crossing the room before either of them has any chance to stop him.

“Hal?” Dominic calls after him, but there is no response, and a moment later he can hear Hal’s footsteps climbing up the stairs, followed by the faint sound of his bedroom door opening and closing. Dominic frowns.

“I guess it’s been a lot for him to take in,” Alex says.

“I suppose,” Dominic agrees, eyes still fixed on the now empty doorway that Hal just left through. “Maybe I should… go speak to him.”

“Maybe you need to give him some space, mate,” Tom says, and Dominic glances across the table at the werewolf, who is giving him a thoughtful look. “I wouldn’t trust no vampire in that kind of state of mind. Especially since you’re, you know, human and that.”

Dominic gives him a small smile. “I appreciate your concern, Tom, but I think I can look after myself.”

Tom’s eyebrows crease. “If you’re sure,” he says, and then adds, “Anyway, I should go. Hospital’s probably gonna be super busy after last night. Need to find out what’s goin’ on with Tasha.”

This prompts another, bigger smile from Dominic. “Please give her my regards, and tell her that I will be visiting as soon as I get the chance.”

“Yeah, sure,” Tom nods before he gets up, puts his dirty dishes in the sink and disappears through the door into the hallway.

***

Hal closes his bedroom door behind him and takes a deep, calming breath. Dominic’s blood has been calling to him incessantly since last night, the smell of it so irresistible and so close. Hal drops to the floor and starts another impromptu set of press-ups to try and suppress the urge to bite, to rip, to taste the sweet liquid inside. He has to stay in control.

As he tries to count along with the press-ups, Hal finds it impossible to take his mind off the human downstairs – _so close, so willing –_ and he loses his place several times before he jumps back to his feet with an angry growl and starts pacing up and down the room, looking for another thing to do to distract him. His nostrils flare when he picks up the familiar scent coming closer, and he can hear faint footsteps on the stairs, then along the hallway outside, and stopping right outside his room, before there is a careful knock on the door.

Hal doesn’t stop pacing, doesn’t respond at all. Maybe, if he ignores him long enough, he is going to go away.

“Hal?” Dominic’s voice sounds tentatively through the closed door.

Hal stops moving and squeezes his eyes shut as he feels a strong surge of hunger in his gut. “Go away, Dominic,” he says, trying to keep his voice neutral as not to betray his current state of distress.

He can hear Dominic sigh deeply on the other side of the door. “Please, Hal, I just want to talk to you.”

 _He’s not going to go away_ , Hal thinks desperately. For some foolish reason, Dominic seems to have got the idea in his head that Hal is not going to hurt him, and he is not going to give up.

Holding his breath to stop the onslaught of Dominic’s blood on his senses, Hal reluctantly walks over to the door and slowly opens it. Dominic stands on the other side, giving him a look that is equal parts apologetic and exasperated.

“Come in,” Hal says quietly, and he moves back to give Dominic some space to enter the room. Dominic steps inside and closes the door behind him before turning back around to face him.

“Are you going to tell me what that was about?” Dominic asks.

With a sigh, Hal turns away from Dominic and walks over towards the window, looking out into the deserted road below, the eerie stillness of it making it feel like a ghost town. “What you did,” he says, “I can’t believe you actually…” He trails off and turns back around to Dominic, unable to fully keep the pain and worry out of his eyes as they meet Dominic’s. “You should never have done that, Dominic. Not for me. Not for anyone, but especially not for me.”

Dominic stares at him with big blue eyes, and his voice is hoarse when he replies, “I wouldn’t have done it for anyone else, Hal.”

Hal can’t help the mirthless laugh that escapes his throat. “I deserved what I got, Dominic,” he says. “After everything I’ve done… it was the right thing to happen to me. You shouldn’t have interfered with that.”

He wants Dominic to understand, to see the error of his judgement, to realise that Hal is not worth saving. But Dominic, being his usual stubborn self, only gives him a small frown and takes a few careful steps closer to him.

“No, Hal,” he says, shaking his head. “If there is one thing I learned while I was down there, in your memories, it’s that you didn’t deserve that.” Hal opens his mouth to protest, but Dominic holds up his hand to stop him and continues, “You deserve to be back here. With me.”

“At what price, Dominic?” Hal asks, and he swallows thickly as his mind wanders back to Dominic’s confrontation with Hatch. “I’m…” he starts, then pauses.

“You’re what, Hal?” Dominic prompts.

Hal takes a deep breath and rushes out, “I’m worried about you. About what he might have done to you.”

“Hal—” Dominic starts, but he doesn’t give him a chance to continue.

“Jesus, Dominic, you went to _purgatory_! You should never have been able to even go there, much less leave again,” he says grimly, shaking his head.

Dominic looks at him for another long moment, then he takes one final step towards him and reaches out to take Hal’s hand into his. Hal can only watch in astonishment as Dominic lifts his hand up to rest flat against his chest, with his own hand on top of it, holding it in place.

“See,” Dominic says quietly, looking deep into Hal’s eyes. “It’s still beating.”

“Yes,” Hal manages to choke out as all of his senses are taken over by the enticing smell all around him and the feeling of the fast beating heart under his fingertips.

“I’m fine, Hal,” Dominic whispers, hand still firmly clasping Hal’s against his chest. “Please don’t worry about me.”

Then Dominic brings his other hand up to the back of Hal’s head and slowly pulls him down towards him, and Hal wants to protest, wants to pull away, but his senses are driving him wild and every fibre in his body commands him to taste, to feed, to feel that heartbeat slow and stop under his fingertips, before suddenly his mind goes completely silent, and he feels a great sense of calm washing over him as Dominic leans in and lightly presses his lips to Hal’s.

Hal finds himself responding to the kiss before he can muster the willpower not to, and he savours the feeling of Dominic’s soft, warm lips moving slowly against his own. A soft hum escapes his throat, and it is echoed a moment later from Dominic’s mouth, the warm, moist air vibrating against his lips.

And for one moment, Hal is able to forget about the hunger and the need, about Dominic’s deal with Hatch, and about the hurt he felt at seeing another vampire’s bite marks marring his beautiful human’s skin. And for one moment, he is hopeful for the future.

After much too short a time, Dominic pulls away from him with an apologetic smile, and Hal’s senses are slow to catch up to the fact that Dominic’s phone is ringing in his pocket. He watches as Dominic lifts the phone to his ear and says, “Alistair.”

The man on the other end starts straight into some kind of angry tirade, and even though Hal can’t make out individual words, he can tell that it is most certainly not a social call. He frowns at Dominic, who holds a hand up towards him to ward him off.

“Yes, Alistair,” he says, giving Hal a minute shake of his head. “Yes, I understand that… No, I haven’t been out yet… Yes, I will drive to Barry as a matter of urgency.” Hal lifts his eyebrows at him at that last point, and Dominic rolls his eyes before continuing, “Yes, I will speak to them… All three of them… No, the Type 2 is not—” he cuts off as the other man shouts something into the speaker, and Dominic lets out a loud sigh. “I will explain everything in my report, Alistair… Yes… Yes, thank you.”

Hal gives Dominic a wide-eyed look as he lowers the phone and disconnects the call.

“I’m not what?” he asks with raised eyebrows.

Dominic sighs. “Locked up anymore.”

Hal snorts. “And whose fault is that?” Dominic just gives him a look, and after a short pause he continues. “I liked the ‘I’ll drive to Barry as a matter of urgency’ bit,” he says, putting on his best impression of Dominic’s business voice, and Dominic huffs.

“Well I was hardly going to tell him that I spent the night in bed with the Type 2, was I?”

“Hmm, I don’t know,” Hal says mock-seriously, and against his better judgement, he finds himself moving in again, placing a light peck on Dominic’s lips. “Might be an interesting conversation starter.”

Dominic kisses him back for a brief moment before pulling away again with a sigh. “As much as I would love to stay here with you all day, I’m afraid I’ve got work to do.”

Hal nods. “I understand.” A small smile breaks out on his face when he adds, “I’ll be here if you want to take a statement.”

Dominic laughs. “Thank you, Mr Yorke.”

“Anytime, Mr Rook.”

With another small laugh and a smile, Dominic turns around and leaves the room, and Hal is left standing in the middle of the room, looking after him for a long moment in pure astonishment at what just happened. But now that the spell of the moment is broken, he can feel the hunger slowly returning, like a faint tickle that grows and builds into a gnawing pain.

 _Go,_ the other one whispers in his head. _Go and get him. Sink your teeth into him. He wants you to. He’s desperate for it. So desperate that he even sought out another vampire when you refused to give him what he wanted._ Hal squeezes his eyes tightly shut, willing the unwanted intrusive thoughts away, but despite his best efforts, the other one’s voice in his head is persistent. _Stop being such a goddamn wimp and give in to your nature, Hal. You know you want to._

Hal gives himself an almighty shake and glances at his alarm clock. It’s still almost an hour until _You and Yours_. Heaving a deep sigh and ignoring the whispers in his head and the hunger in his gut, he purposefully strides over to his bookshelf, gives it a long, contemplative look, and decides that the time has quite clearly come to re-sort his books in chronological rather than alphabetical order.


	20. Conflict of Interest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, and thank you so, so much for all the <3 guys! You seriously have no idea how much each and every one of them means to me!
> 
> Anyways, onwards with Chapter 20... I can't believe I've actually made it this far. We are fast approaching the end of Part 2, and I'm so happy for everyone who is still reading this!

These things take my time and energy  
Don't stand too close without apologies  
Cutthroat, cut out candid glimpses and  
Wind me up, I'm ready

\- Death Cab for Cutie, “Line of Best Fit”

_Case #YF542_

_Location: Barry, Wales_

_Date/Time: 21st August 2013, approx. 20:00_

_Involved: Type 0, Type 1, Type 2, Type 3, previously uncategorised Type (now categorised as Type 6, see below)._

_Details of incident: Attack on the town of Barry by a previously uncategorised supernatural entity known as the Devil (likely subtype of Type 6, “Demon”)._  
_The Type 6 (#MR001) used manipulation and subterfuge to elicit a conflict situation involving a known Type 2 (#DK307) and a previously unregistered Brazilian Type 3 at the Barry Grand Hotel in Barry, Wales, where #MR001 resided. Another Type 3 (#NG157) attempted to break up the fight after a human bystander fell casualty to the conflict, leading to the death of both #DK307 and the unregistered Type 3. The human victim remains in a stable, but serious condition in hospital._  
_#MR001 gained power from the conflict, which enabled him to leave the premises of the Barry Grand Hotel, and he proceeded to kill a large number of humans by unknown means, most likely a form of mind manipulation that persuaded the victims to commit suicide._  
_#MR001 proceeded into the town centre, where he was confronted by a supernatural “trinity” formed of a known Type 1 (#LX204), Type 2 (#SJ031) and Type 3 (#NG157), who performed a blood ritual with the purpose of weakening the Type 6 to bind him to his human vessel and make him vulnerable to be killed by ordinary weapons. The ritual was a success, and a human present at the scene at the time of the ritual was able to kill #MR001 with a gunshot to the head. There was no evidence of #MR001 escaping his human vessel after the ritual had been completed, and it can be assumed that the entity was therefore killed along with the human vessel._  
_Local ambulance and fire services, as well as South Wales Police, were alerted to the situation by local residents and involved in the immediate clean-up. DoDD officials will ensure that all agencies involved will be given an adequate explanation of the event._  
_#LX204, #SJ031 and #NG157 are all unharmed and have returned to their shared residence in Barry, where they remain under close monitoring by DoDD officials._

Dominic looks up from his laptop and glances over to the TV, where a news reporter is standing on the pavement in front of a number of crashed and abandoned cars, talking animatedly about the sudden surge of violent deaths in the seaside town of Barry, likening it to a zombie apocalypse. 

_No Type 4s involved,_ Dominic thinks distractedly, _but otherwise not too far off the truth._

He frowns and sighs. With an event of this scale, it is impossible to cover it up completely, so press involvement was going to be inevitable. The important thing will be for them to provide an appropriate, believable explanation for the events, so that it doesn’t end in another fiasco like the Box Tunnel Massacre. 

“Looks like you’re going to have your hands full,” Alex’s voice speaks up from the direction of the sofa. He wasn’t even aware that she was there up until now, so absorbed had he been in his report. 

He nods. “Yes, I suppose so. But at the end of the day, we’ll just tell them that it was the work of a psychopath or something, then spread some new, fake story about something completely different, and it’ll blow over soon enough. People are fickle like that.”

He feels Alex getting up and walking over to where he is sitting at the table. “Yes, but in this case, people actually _died_. Lots and lots of people. Like, on the news just now, they said the death count is in the thousands.”

Dominic lets out a sound halfway between a laugh and sob. “And all because I couldn’t keep my fucking urges in check.”

Alex sighs. “Are you still on this stupid guilt trip? Did you not listen to what Hal said at breakfast earlier? It’s not your fault, Dominic.”

Dominic shakes his head. “That’s easy for you to say.”

“Yes, because it’s true,” Alex snaps, then takes a deep breath and continues in a calmer voice, “Listen, Dominic, I know you feel bad about what happened with Carl. And it seems like Hal is not taking it particularly well either—”

“No,” Dominic snorts, but Alex ignores him and continues.

“—but that doesn’t mean that you have to make yourself responsible for the deaths of thousands of people. Hatch was one hell of a manipulator, you know that as well as I do. If it hadn’t been for you, he would’ve found some other way to achieve his goal.”

“That may be so,” Dominic bites out, “but the fact is that he didn’t.”

Alex groans. “Urgh, you’re impossible. Why can’t you for one moment just focus on the positives? That you saved me, for example? That you saved _Hal_?” 

“Yes, that would be lovely, except that Hal quite clearly didn’t want to be saved,” Dominic says bitterly.

Alex is silent for a moment, probably not sure how to respond to that. “He probably just needs some time to adjust,” she says eventually. “Where is Hal, anyway?”

“In his room, as far as I know. Probably counting the cracks in the floorboards or something.”

Alex snorts out a laugh. “That sounds about right.” Then she sobers up and adds, “Quite seriously though, what is your plan with him, Dominic? It’s clear from seeing him with you this morning that he’s not having an easy time with you around. How are you going to make sure that he stays safe?”

Dominic sighs and opens his mouth to reply, when Hal’s voice drifts over from the doorway, “That’s a very good question, actually.”

Dominic’s eyes fall on Hal, who is hovering in the doorway, as if he is scared to enter the room. Hal’s eyes are sharp and fixed on him, and he is not breathing.

Dominic swallows and says, “I don’t think you would want to hear my suggestion.”

Hal huffs. “Are you going to try and convince me about the flasks again?”

“I still believe it would be beneficial—” 

“With all due respect, Dominic, you haven’t lived with this condition for the last five hundred years. I know what works and what doesn’t.”

Dominic frowns. “With all due respect, _Hal_ , but I have supplied regulated amounts of bottled blood to a large number of vampires for the last twenty years, and closely studied the numbers of incidents they were involved in during that time, and it is quite clear from the evidence that vampires who try to stay abstinent are significantly more likely to go off the rails at some stage.” 

Hal stares at him for a long moment, an unreadable expression on his face. Then he shakes his head and says, “I’m not interested in your statistics.”

“I know you probably won’t care what I think,” Alex speaks up, “but I actually think what Dominic says makes sense.”

“You’re right,” Hal says, throwing a glance in Alex’s direction, “I don’t care what you think.” Then he turns back towards Dominic and a strange look flashes in his eyes for a moment before he asks, “Did you bring any with you? Any flasks?”

“No, of course not,” says Dominic quickly, shaking his head. “I know better than to bring blood into your house without asking you first.”

Hal snorts. “You brought yourself.”

Dominic’s eyes widen. “I… that’s…” he drifts off, looking helplessly at Hal, who is now taking a few slow steps into the room, and closer to him. Hal’s nostrils flare involuntarily as he approaches, and he stops in his tracks, squeezing his eyes tightly shut.

“God, you have no idea what you’re doing to me by just being here. I don’t know how you expect me to ever get used to this.”

Dominic’s brow furrows. “But earlier, in your room—”

“I’m not sure what happened there, Dominic, but please don’t think that it will always be like that. I can’t… I…” He shakes his head, turns on his heels, and all but runs out of the room once more. Dominic can hear his footsteps quickly going up the stairs. He sighs.

“I really don’t want to be that person,” Alex says next to him, “but seriously, what did you expect was going to happen? That we would all be able to live here together, happily ever after?”

Dominic shakes his head as the reality of the situation comes crashing down on him. “I don’t know, Alex,” he says quietly. “I don’t know what I thought was going to happen. All I knew is that I needed him back, that I didn’t want to go on without him.” He takes a deep breath and adds, “I need to find a way of making this work.”

“Well, good luck with that.”

Dominic huffs out a humourless laugh. “Thanks.” After a brief pause, he adds, “I think that perhaps I should go for a little while. I should really show my face at the Archive at some point, to instruct people how to deal with this whole situation, and I need to update the Home Secretary.”

“Sounds exciting,” Alex says sarcastically, and he chuckles.

“It’s a whole lot more exciting than writing a policy on songbird conservation, let me tell you that.”

Then he folds up his laptop and stores it away in its bag before realising that in order to go to the Archive, he will have to get changed into his suit. Which means getting his things out of Hal’s room. Swallowing thickly, he makes his way up the stairs and carefully knocks on the door. 

“Hal?” he asks. “I need to grab a few things from my suitcase.”

He hears Hal’s strangled reply of “Come in,” from the other side of the door, and he slowly opens it. 

As soon as he enters the room, however, the door slams shut behind him, and Hal hauls himself at him, pushing him up against the wall and pressing his lips to his in a bruising kiss. His rational mind sends alarm bells ringing in his head, shouting at him to stop, push him away, get yourself to a safe distance. But Dominic ignores the warning and instead pulls Hal closer, opening his mouth and allowing Hal’s probing tongue to enter, to explore, to lick and prod against his own.

“Hmm, Dominic,” Hal breathes against his mouth, and it makes a pleasant shiver run down his spine. He feels himself going slightly dizzy from lack of oxygen, and he takes a deep breath through his nose, never once interrupting the kiss. After a long moment, Hal pulls back very slightly and kisses a wet trail down the curve of his jaw and his neck towards his pulse point. Hal’s hands come up to open the top two buttons on his polo shirt, and a moment later, he can feel Hal’s cool breath on the crook of his neck, hovering over the two small puncture wounds. He feels his heart racing in his chest and an undeniable surge of arousal that runs from the centre of his stomach straight down into his groin.

“Hal,” he breathes, as the tip of Hal’s nose lightly brushes against the sensitive skin of his neck, and he thinks he can hear Hal let out a guttural growl.

 _Yes_ , he thinks, _do it, Hal. I want you to. Do it, please._

He can feel Hal’s cool lips make contact with his skin, and he shivers, anticipating the impact, when suddenly, Hal jumps back from him, and with a few quick steps he is at the other end of the room, staring at Dominic with wide eyes, panting, fangs still visible between his slightly parted lips.

“I’m sorry, Dominic,” he croaks, voice barely obeying him. “I think perhaps you should go.”

Dominic nods rapidly. “Yes. I’ll just get my clothes and I… I can get changed in the bathroom,” he rushes out.

“Good idea,” Hal breathes, turning around to the window so he doesn’t have to look at Dominic as he walks over to his suitcase and quickly picks out what he needs.

“I’ll see you later,” he says to Hal, who gives him a small, jerky nod, not turning back around to face him. He frowns at Hal’s back for a long moment, then quickly turns and leaves the room.

***

Dominic enters the Archive to find six pairs of concerned and bewildered eyes looking at him.

“Sir, we are so glad to see you alive and well,” Adrian says, as Dominic makes his way across to his desk, putting down his laptop bag on the floor next to it. All six men follow along behind him, and he turns around to face them with a sigh. “When you called this morning to let us know that you had personally been caught up in the incident, we didn’t know what to think,” Adrian continues, and the other men nod along with his statement. “Was it really the Devil, sir? The actual Devil?” 

Dominic nods grimly. “Yes, it was. But he is gone now.”

One of the new recruits, a tall, skinny young man called Mike, speaks up, “I’m sorry, sir, but are you really sure he’s gone? How can you be certain?”

“Demons, from what I have been told – I don’t yet have any personal experience with any other demons – turn into a cloud of black smoke when they exit the human vessel they possessed.” He looks intently at the six young men standing in a kind of semi-circle around him. “There was no black smoke.” 

“If you haven’t got any personal experience with demons, sir,” Mike starts again, “Can I ask how you acquired that information? Was it a trustworthy source?”

“Yes,” Dominic says, nodding his head with conviction. “It was definitely a trustworthy source.”

“But who—”

“It was a Type 2,” Dominic says with a sigh. “One of my most trusted informants. He has an… unprecedented depth of knowledge about the supernatural world based on an exceptionally long lifespan.”

“SJ031,” Adrian says, a small, displeased frown on his face. 

“Yes,” Dominic replies, swallowing down a sudden lump in his throat. He can’t help but wonder how much information Casselli has given Adrian about him before sending him here. “Now, if you don’t mind,” he continues, “I need to finalise my report, and then I should probably call the Home Secretary to give him an update on the situation. I believe you all have tasks you need to get on with?”

His men all give him somewhat hesitant nods, and Mike once again speaks up to ask, “Do you have any preference with regards to the fake news story you want us to send out, sir?”

Dominic shakes his head. “I couldn’t care less, as long as it doesn’t involve anything supernatural. Be creative,” he adds with a small smile to the young man. 

“I will be, sir. Thank you.”

And with that, all of them slowly make their way out of the room and back to their own desks, while Dominic takes a seat at his desk and gets out his laptop, opens it and starts it up. He is just about to open the document that contains his incident report, when his phone rings loudly in the large room.

With a sigh, Dominic takes it out, not surprised at all to see that it is Alistair who is calling him. “Hello?”

“Dominic. What’s the situation?”

“I have almost finished my report,” Dominic starts. “I have instructed my men to come up with a cover story for last night’s events, and to spread something else to take the public’s eye off of it. Then we will drive back to the scene and personally speak to as many eye-witnesses as possible in order to reinforce our cover story and confiscate any video or picture evidence.”

“What about the supernaturals?” Alistair asks, “Your… what do you call it… ‘trinity’?”

“They are all back home,” Dominic says immediately, then blushes and adds, “I mean, in their home. In the bed & breakfast.”

“Are they safe?” Alistair asks at once. “I mean, are they contained? You said this morning that—”

“The Type 2 is safe, Alistair, please don’t worry. I wouldn’t have allowed him to come out of his confinement if I wasn’t confident that he could be managed.”

Alistair lets out something that sounds very much like grunt on the other end. “I don’t like this, Dominic. I can’t shake the feeling that you give this Type 2 special treatment because of your… affinity to him, whatever that realistically means.”

Dominic sighs. He has had enough of dancing around the issue. “Listen, Alistair, I don’t know what exactly Casselli told you—”

“He told me enough, Dominic!” Alistair suddenly bellows, and Dominic lifts the phone slightly away from his ear at the unexpected outburst. “Enough for me to know that under normal circumstances, you would be stripped of your position on the grounds that there is a clear conflict of interest between your professional role and your… personal... relationship with that Type 2.”

Dominic blanches. “Alistair, listen, there is no—”

“Unfortunately,” Alistair continues as if he didn’t even hear him, “I am not in a position to appoint anyone else in your role, as everyone with enough know-how to do the job is either dead or refuses to return to the department. You are our only hope to get us through this mess, Dominic, but don’t think for one second that means you have carte blanche to do what you please with regards to the Type 2.”

Dominic feels his cheeks flush in a combination of embarrassment and unbridled anger at Alistair’s words. “Excuse me, Alistair, but could you please explain to me what business it is of yours who I choose to spend my life with?”

There is silence on the other end for a long moment, before Alistair says in a deadly quiet voice, “I’m sorry, Dominic, but I must have misunderstood. I thought I was talking about you having some mindless infatuation for this savage supernatural beast. But from the way you’re talking, it sounds like you’re planning to, I don’t know, marry him or something?”

A strange, tingling rush courses through Dominic at Alistair’s words, and he decides to file the thought away to be revisited later. Clearing his throat, he replies, “I don’t wish to discuss the exact nature of our relationship with you, Alistair. You have already said that you are unable to replace me. I don’t think that will suddenly change just because you find out that my feelings for Hal are much more than just some – what did you call it? – ‘mindless infatuation’.”

“I must say, Dominic, I’m shocked,” Alistair replies. “Shocked and disappointed. I always took you for such a sensible, level-headed kind of man. A little bit intense at times, granted, especially when it came to the closure of your department, but otherwise you’ve always seemed completely reasonable. To now find you so completely under that vile creature’s spell is… frankly quite disturbing.” 

Dominic feels his nostrils flare, and he takes a few deep breaths in and out to calm his rising temper. “I’m not under anyone’s _spell_ , Alistair. And I hope that you will agree that continuing this conversation right now would not serve any productive purpose.”

“Don’t get me wrong, Dominic,” Alistair says, “I don’t wish to have this conversation anymore than you do. All I want you to understand is that, for the long-term survival of your position and your department, I would advise you to cease your personal relations with the Type 2 with immediate effect.”

Dominic’s eyes widen. “Cease…?” he repeats in a strangled voice.

“Indeed.”

“But… no, Alistair, I’m sorry, I won’t agree to this.”

Alistair sighs. “Dominic, be reasonable.”

“I am being reasonable,” Dominic bites out, even as he is aware that he is encroaching on dangerous territory. “As far as I’m concerned, the thing that is unreasonable is your completely unjustified demand. I’m a professional. I don’t let my personal relationships negatively affect my work, and I am happy to prove that to you in the coming weeks. If that is not good enough for you, perhaps I should think about a resignation.”

“Dominic, please, don’t do anything rash!” Alistair bursts out, and Dominic smiles grimly. So far, he still has the upper hand, and Alistair is all too aware of it.

“Then don’t give me a reason to,” Dominic says. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have a massacre to clean up. I will send across my report within the hour. Good day, Alistair.”

He disconnects the call and sits back in his chair, taking a few deep, calming breaths. As much as he tried to convince Alistair that his relationship with Hal and all that comes with it has no effect on his work, he knows that in reality, it already has, in a big way. He will have to be a lot more careful in the future.

***

Hal is in the kitchen, stirring the carbonara sauce he is making for dinner, when the front door opens, and his sensitive nostrils immediately pick up the unmistakable smell of Dominic. The hunger flares up inside of him, but he clenches his teeth and tries to fight down the feeling before it has the chance to get too overwhelming.

In the long hours between Dominic leaving for work and him coming home, Hal has had a lot of uninterrupted time to think, and he has come to two important conclusions. One, Dominic is not going to go anywhere. The man has decided to live here with him and Alex and Tom, and from his previous experience with Dominic’s unwavering stubbornness, there is no way of dissuading him from a decision once it has been made. And two, he cannot ever allow himself to lose control again like he did this morning. If he wants to share this house – and his room, and his bed – with the man, he will have to get himself used to his presence, and he will have to learn to control his urges. 

He spent the rest of the day devising a vigorous exercise and distraction routine for the whole week, and he will still have to try and figure something out for the weekend. Perhaps he could ask Tom to go out running with him for some of the time, as long as they go somewhere quiet and free of people. With these measures in place, he hopes that in the few hours each day that he will not be able to avoid Dominic’s company, he will be better able to keep the hunger in check.

 _Or you could just give in to your natural urges and get yourself a taste of that delicious O negative,_ the other one pipes up. He has been awake and present in his head almost constantly since his return from hell, as if his time there has somehow damaged and weakened the walls between the two of them. _Oh, come on, Hal, please, live a little,_ the other one adds, and Hal lets out a low, frustrated growl.

“Whoa, the sauce hasn’t done anything to deserve that,” Alex says, walking up next to him and taking a peek into the saucepan. 

“Sorry,” Hal says sheepishly, eyes darting nervously towards the hallway as he hears Dominic’s footsteps coming closer. 

“Aww, that looks delicious,” Alex says mournfully. “I wonder if Tom or Dominic will let me taste it.”

“How would I do that?” Dominic’s voice comes over from the doorway, and Hal’s heart gives a stuttery extra beat at the sight of the blond man.

“You’d let me place my hands on your head while you’re eating it. That way I can kind of taste it through you. Don’t know exactly how it works,” Alex says with a shrug.

“That doesn’t sound too bad. I’d be happy for you to do that,” Dominic says, then takes a few steps further into the kitchen and gives Hal a cautious look. “Hey.”

“Hi,” Hal says, meeting Dominic’s big blue eyes for a moment before turning back to the cooker. 

Dominic comes to stand next to him on his other side, also taking a look into the saucepans on the cooker. “That does smell good, I have to say,” he says with a smile, and Hal tenses up ever so slightly as he feels Dominic’s hand come to rest on the small of his back. Then he turns towards Hal and asks, “Are you going to have any?”

Hal, eyes still fixed on the food, shakes his head. “No. I don’t think I’m quite ready for that yet.”

Dominic takes a step back, giving Hal some breathing space, and some of the tension seeps from his body. He chances another look at Dominic, who looks back at him with a small frown. “Have you ever thought that if you tried to eat… you know, food… that that might help with… the other thing?”

Hal sighs. “Yes, it does to an extent,” he says guardedly, and Dominic’s frown turns into a hesitant smile.

“Then that’s definitely something we should try,” he says.

“Yeah,” Alex agrees. “Why haven’t you mentioned that before, Hal?”

“Because,” he says while giving the creamy sauce another vigorous stir, “I don’t know if you remember what happened the last time I tried to have even so much as a cup of tea.”

“Oh,” Alex says, and Hal rolls his eyes.

“Yes. Oh.”

“But that was a little while ago now, right?” Dominic speaks up again. “Maybe it’s time to give it another try.”

_Or maybe you should just go for the thing that you know doesn’t make you throw up, because it’s what your body needs, Hal._

_Shut up_ , he tells the other one, then looks up at Dominic and gives him a small, slightly forced smile. “Maybe.”

Dominic smiles back at him for a moment before asking, “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Yes, why don’t you help Alex set the table.”

“Of course,” Dominic says with a small nod, and the two of them leave the kitchen, allowing Hal to take a deep breath to fight down the growing hunger.

***

Five minutes later, the food is ready and Hal is just placing the two bowls down on the dining table when Tom walks through the door, looking tired and fed up.

“Hotel’s in a shambles,” he growls as he walks over to the table, where Dominic and Alex have already sat down. “Most of the guests are dead, an’ the ones that aren’t have all insisted on movin’ out early, like, ‘cause of what happened. Can’t blame ‘em, I suppose, but it’s gonna be bad for business. People seem to be cottonin’ on to the fact that it all started at the hotel, an’ some of them are sayin’ that the place is cursed an’ whatnot.”

Hal frowns and nods as he reluctantly takes a seat at the table between Dominic and Alex. “I guess that’s not too surprising.” Looking over at Dominic, he adds, “Are your people going to speak to the guests?”

“Of course,” Dominic confirms with a nod. “We haven’t got round to everyone yet, but we are slowly working our way through the survivors and eye-witnesses.”

“When ya do, can ya make sure to mention that the hotel’s not cursed?” Tom asks, also taking his seat at the table. 

“Naturally,” Dominic says, then reaches out and dishes himself up some spaghetti and sauce. Tom does the same, and Alex looks sadly back and forth between the two heaped plates for a moment, then sits back with a sigh. Dominic must have heard the sigh, Hal muses, because the next moment, he looks up in Alex’s direction and asks, “Do you still want to do that tasting thing?”

Alex’s eyebrows shoot up. “Will you let me?” she asks excitedly. “Tom never does.”

“Hey, that’s not true!” Tom says indignantly. “I just don’t want ya to do it _all_ the time. It feels funny.”

Dominic looks between Tom and Alex for a moment, then gives a curt nod and says, “Of course, Alex. Go ahead.”

Hal watches as Alex gets up and walks around the back of Dominic’s chair. “I’m gonna put my hands on your head now,” she warns him, and he gives another small nod to tell her that he understands. Alex lifts her hands up to his head, and despite the warning, Dominic visibly flinches. Alex quickly takes her hands away again.

“Sorry,” Dominic says with an embarrassed little laugh, and Hal thinks that he has never looked more beautiful. “Try it again.”

Alex moves in again, and this time, Dominic keeps perfectly still, and only a slight widening of his eyes betrays the fact that he is aware of Alex’s touch at all. Hal finds that he can’t tear his eyes away from the two of them.

“Now take a mouthful of food, and chew it really well, so it gives me a bit more time to properly taste it,” Alex instructs, and Dominic picks up his fork and does as he is told. As he is chewing, his eyes come up and he looks surprised for a split second to find Hal watching him, but his eyes soften a moment later, and he holds Hal’s gaze for a long moment while Alex is still holding on to the sides of his head, sharing the taste of the food with him. 

_I love you._

The thought pops into Hal’s mind out of nowhere, but the presence of his two friends at the table with them keeps him from saying the words out loud. He tries to convey the message through his eyes instead, and Dominic’s own eyes light up in response, clearly getting the gist of what he is trying to say. 

“Mmmh, that is so good,” Alex says then, and Hal’s eyes flick up to his friend before coming to rest on Dominic again.

“He’s a good cook, isn’t he,” Dominic says with a soft smile. “He makes a fantastic tagine, as well.”

Hal feels warmth spread inside of him at the memory of that night. Back when everything between them was so easy, so effortless. So different to the way things are now. With a small, resigned sigh, he averts his eyes, fixing them on the small glass of water in front of him. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Dominic swallow, and the next moment, Alex takes her hands away from his head and sits back down at the table. 

“Cheers for that, Blondie,” she says, with a smile she knows he won’t be able to see.

“You’re welcome, Alex,” Dominic replies and takes another mouthful of food.

They eat in silence for while, with Hal lifting up his glass and taking a few listless sips of water, grimacing at the strange kind of non-taste. After a minute, he feels Dominic’s eyes on him again and he looks up to see those blue orbs piercing into him.

“You really should try it,” Dominic says in a quiet voice that is almost too intimate for the situation they are in. “It’s very good.”

Hal swallows, eyes darting down to Dominic’s plate for a moment before they come back up to his face, and a small smile spreads on Dominic’s lips. Without saying another word, he swirls a small amounts of spaghetti onto his fork and, instead of lifting it up to his own mouth, holds it out to Hal.

“Try it,” he says, eyes never leaving Hal’s. Before he even knows what he is doing, Hal is leaning closer, closing his lips around the fork and taking the small bunch of spaghetti into his mouth. He starts chewing as if on auto-pilot, still not breaking eye contact with Dominic, who gives him an expectant look. “Well? What do you think?” he asks.

 _I think that it feels like rubber and tastes like cardboard,_ Hal thinks as he forces himself to chew, chew, chew, and eventually swallow. But he doesn’t tell Dominic that. Instead, he gives him a small smile and says, “It’s not bad.” Dominic’s face lights up instantly, and Hal thinks that the reaction was most definitely worth the white lie.

“Would you like another one?” Dominic asks.

Before Hal has a chance to reply, however, Alex pipes up, “Guys, should Tom and I maybe leave you alone? Only, this is starting to look an awful lot like foreplay.”

The look on Dominic’s face is absolutely mortified, and Hal bursts out laughing. A moment later, Dominic joins in, and before long, all four of them are laughing around the table. 

“No, thank you, Alex. I don’t think that will be necessary,” Hal says once the laughter has started to die down.

“I’m so sorry,” Dominic chokes out, prompting a loud, dramatic sigh from Alex.

“I was only teasing you guys,” she says.

“Well,” Tom throws in, a slight flush in his face that Hal hadn’t noticed before, “ya did have a point though.”

This prompts another round of laughter, and Hal once again can't take his eyes off the blond man, big blue eyes lit up and dancing with mirth.

 _God, he_ is _pretty, isn't he,_ the other one speaks up in his head then, and Hal almost chokes on the sip of water he has just taken in order to wash the taste of creamy pasta from his mouth.

 _What was that?_ he asks incredulously, but his question is met only with silence.

“Everything all right, Hal?” Dominic asks, looking at him with a furrowed brow. 

Hal gives him a hasty nod and a smile. “Yes, everything's fine.”

Dominic doesn’t look entirely convinced, but doesn’t say anything more, and silence falls once more until Alex says, “So, any of you guys gonna watch Celebrity MasterChef with me?”

Hal eyes widen involuntarily. “I remember what happened the last time I watched MasterChef with you,” he says glumly, and Alex snorts.

“Well, unless you have any more dirty secrets threatening to reveal themselves, I’d say you’ll be just fine.”

Hal looks at Dominic. “What do you think?” he asks, and the man looks back at him in surprise for a moment before slowly nodding.

“I’d like that.”

Tom once again excuses himself, saying he will clean up the dishes and then go out for a run, and the rest of them move over towards the sofa. Hal takes the seat in the middle, with Alex sitting down in her usual seat on his left, and Dominic taking the one on his right. He can’t help but tense up again as he feels the human’s warmth so very, very close to him, close enough that he can hear his heartbeat, and he bites down hard on his bottom lip to try and make the sudden flare of hunger go away.

 _What the hell are you doing here?_ The other one asks exasperatedly, and it drowns out the voices from the TV. _Take him upstairs, away from prying eyes, and sink your fucking teeth into him already._

Hal sighs inwardly in frustration. _Get the fuck out of my head and go back to sleep_ , he growls silently at the other one. _I don’t want or need your advice._

 _You clearly do,_ the other one replies, and Hal closes his eyes, trying to force him out of his head, to no avail. He opens his eyes again and stares at the TV screen, tries to focus on the show instead, but still the voice in his head continues, _I for one don’t plan on putting myself through this kind of torture for very long. It’s exhausting me. It’s exhausting_ you _. It’s not healthy for either of us, and it’s completely unnecessary. Just look at him, he wants it._

Hal freezes and involuntarily holds his breath when he feels Dominic shifting closer, feels his warm hand reach out and take hold of his own. His eyes wander down to their joint hands for a moment, before he turns his head to the side to look at Dominic. The man is leaning back on the sofa, his head resting sideways against the headrest and looking across to him with a small smile playing on his lips. 

_No,_ Hal thinks loudly in his head, _that’s not what he wants right now._ He can physically feel the other one’s frustration coursing through his body, just like he can feel the sudden, violent surge of hunger at the close contact with his human, but he blocks them both out, focusing instead on Dominic’s bright blue eyes, and some of the tension leaves him as he gives the other man a slow, hesitant smile.

“We’ll be all right,” he says, and Dominic lets out a soft sigh in return.

“Yes, Hal,” he says, so quietly that Hal is sure only he can hear it. “We will be.”


	21. Dichotomy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! 
> 
> Apologies for the long wait. It turns out that sitting in near-stationary traffic for two hours each day has a detrimental effect on my creativity, which means I got almost nothing done during the week. Here's hoping for an improvement of the traffic situation for next week!

When I’m calm  
And all out of line  
And all my doubts are dead  
Take me back to bed

\- Editors, “At All Cost”

The alarm clock on the bedside table reads 5.42 AM, and Hal’s tired eyes wander over the soft curves and sharp angles that form the human lying on the bed, his body perfectly still and his milky white skin illuminated by the strange half-light of the not-quite-sunrise. There is a book open in his lap, and every once in a while, his eyes stray from their target of the sleeping man to take a disinterested glimpse at the poem on the page in front of him, just to flick up again a moment later as if driven by an unstoppable external force.

Except, it is not external at all.

Hal sighs and shuts his eyes completely, and a surge of anger and frustration runs through the very core of his body, swelling and growing, supplying him with vivid images of blood and carnage and deep, brutal gashes in soft, pale skin until he can’t help but open them again, just to gain control back over his body, and to reassure himself that none of it is real. That Dominic is alive and well and sleeping soundly in their bed.

He briefly wonders if Dominic realises that even though they fall asleep in bed together every night, Hal manages about one, maybe two hours before the proximity of the fresh, warm blood rushing through his veins becomes too much for Hal to handle, and he has no choice but to get up and bring as much physical and mental distance between them as possible. Sometimes, when the hunger flares up to an almost uncontrollable level, he actually leaves the room altogether, but the look on Alex’s face, questioning and accusing all at once, keeps him from doing it every night, which means he is stuck here, sitting on the sofa, with the other one feeding alien thoughts into his mind, for a good six to seven hours every night.

It has been the same for the last five days, and Hal is starting to think that he is slowly losing his mind. Maybe it’s the blood withdrawal, he thinks. Or an after-effect of his time in hell. But the fact is that he has been experiencing things that he has no believable, rational explanation for. Things that should not be happening like this at all.

 _But that’s not really true, is it, Hal?_ the other one says, and Hal clenches his teeth in frustration, even though he knows that is hardly going to stop the voice inside his head. _Oh, I’m enjoying this way too much. Your reactions alone are more than worth the effort._

 _What do you actually want?_ Hal answers tensely, ending his day-and-a-half long spell of silent treatment. _What are you trying to get out of this? His blood? Because this feels like something else entirely to me._

He can hear the other one chuckle in his head, but there is no immediate answer. Of course not. His other self seems to have made it his life’s mission to torture him by any means possible.

Hal decides that the best way forward is to go back to ignoring him, and he once again trains his eyes on the book in his lap. Not even as much as a minute later, he feels his eyes shift back up as if pulled by invisible strings, and they look straight into a pair of bright blue ones.

***

Dominic’s eyes open, and he catches Hal watching him for the briefest moment before the other’s gaze darts down to the heavy, old book in his lap, pretending to read.

It has been the same every morning for the last five days. Dominic wakes to find Hal already dressed and sitting on the small leather sofa, book in hand and doing his best to pretend that he has not just spent the last god knows how many hours watching him sleep. A small frown creeps into Dominic’s face. He is not sure what he is more frustrated about – the fact that Hal thinks it is necessary to lie to him, or his assumption that Dominic is actually buying it.

It is better than it has been, he tries to remind himself. At least he gets to spend some actual time with him, in the same room, in the same _bed_. It could almost pass for an actual relationship. That is, if it wasn’t for the fact that Hal is still absolutely terrified of physical closeness of any kind, and that the closest they get by a long way is the few precious hours they get to spend sleeping in the same bed – not Hal’s narrow single bed, mind, but the double bed they dragged in from one of the empty guest rooms, which according to Tom once belonged to George and Nina, a werewolf couple who used to live here before Hal moved in.

Anything to help Hal in his mission to avoid touching him even when they are both fast asleep. The closest he has been able to get to Hal physically has been a few wayward brushes of hands, and one almost-kiss that was aborted by Hal at the last moment.

Deciding that he has had enough of Hal’s games, Dominic lets out a long, deep breath and says, “Hal.”

He can see Hal’s Adam’s apple rising and falling nervously, and his eyes remain fixed on the book in his lap as he replies, “Good morning. Sleep well?”

“Yes, thank you,” Dominic says with a sigh. “Hal?”

“Hmm?” Hal replies, still pointedly not looking at him.

“Come back to bed.”

Hal’s eyes flick up at his words, and a frown appears on his handsome face. “No,” he just says, in that way of his that he has adopted to mean, _There is no point arguing with me, I will not change my mind._

Dominic lets out another frustrated sigh. “Hal, please. It’s not even six in the morning. How long have you been up?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Hal says, then shuts the book in a huff and jumps up, walking over to the bookshelf. Dominic’s eyes follow him as he puts the book back on the shelf and frowns, clearly trying to decide what other pointless activity to occupy his time with, just so he doesn’t have to spend it with Dominic.

Pushing himself up on his elbows, Dominic throws a narrow-eyed glance at him and says, “I think you’ll find that it does matter to me.”

It is Hal’s turn to heave a frustrated sigh as he turns around to Dominic, and his eyes darken immediately as they fall on his naked torso, exposed by the sheet slipping down when he sat up. Dominic recognises the familiar hunger and bloodlust in his gaze, but there is also something else, underlying, a look that seems completely foreign on Hal’s face.

 _No,_ he thinks a moment later, _not completely foreign. You have seen that look before. Once before. Remember._

A lump rises in his throat as he tries to make the connection, and he can’t stop the small frown that creeps into his face. “Hal?” he asks, tentatively now.

“Yes?” Hal asks, voice husky, as if his vocal cords are not fully obeying him.

“Are you… are you all right?”

“Good, thanks.” The reply sounds almost robotic, while Hal’s eyes are staring a hole into the middle of his chest. Dominic’s frown deepens.

“Hal, snap out of it,” he says, and a moment later, he can see Hal giving himself a little shake and, right in front of his eyes, that intense look disappears from Hal’s eyes, replaced almost immediately by one of tension and anxiety. He takes a step away from the bed.

“I’m sorry,” he says quietly.

“Hal, what’s going on?” Dominic asks, and Hal gives him a jerky shake of his head.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it. Why don’t you… go back to sleep?”

Dominic sighs. “Hal,” he starts, looking straight into Hal’s wide, fearful eyes. “Talk to me, please. What’s going on?”

“I told you it’s nothing!” Hal snaps and turns away from him again, walking over to the fireplace and busying himself with righting the pictures on the mantelpiece.

Dominic stares at Hal’s back for a long moment, watches the muscles under his thin black shirt twitch and tense. He wants to get up, wants to walk over and run his hand down Hal’s back, to tell him that it’s okay, that he can talk to him about whatever is going on with him, but he finds himself rooted to the spot, awkwardly propped up in bed, forced to just look from a distance.

When Hal doesn’t say anything more, but just keeps pointedly ignoring him while dusting off the mantelpiece that was already spotless to begin with, Dominic lies back down with a frustrated huff, turning over on his side and closing his eyes. He is clearly not getting anything more out of Hal, and it is much too early to get up. He might as well get another hour of sleep.

As soon as he has turned away from Hal, he can hear soft footsteps moving from the mantelpiece back over to the bookshelf, and then to the sofa. A moment later he feels Hal’s eyes on him again, silently watching, and it takes all his willpower not to turn around to him, not to confront him about his odd behaviour. Keeping his eyes tightly shut, he gradually feels his limbs get heavy as he slowly drifts off to sleep again.

***

The hospital is still exceptionally busy. Even though the majority of victims of the Devil’s attack died on the scene, there was an almost as large number of people who either did not quite go through with their suicide before the Devil was taken out or got caught up in the events in some other way, not to mention the ones that were admitted with symptoms of shock, heart attacks and strokes.

Dominic makes his way through the busy ward, looking left and right to find the familiar face he is looking for.

“Can I help you, sir?” a female voice says, and Dominic turns around to come face to face with a small blonde nurse with big brown eyes. The name badge around her neck reads ‘Megan’.

“Erm, yes, I hope,” Dominic says. “I’m looking for Natasha Miles?”

Megan gives him a dazzling smile and says, “Bed 1E. Just through there.” She gestures towards a bay on his left. “You must be Dominic,” she adds, and his eyes widen.

“How did you…?” he drifts off, a small frown on his face.

“You’re all she ever talks about,” Megan says. “Well, you and that Tom fella, but I’ve met him, so I knew you had to be the other one.”

“She… talks about me?” he asks, puzzled. “What does she say?”

“Ah, now, that would be telling,” Megan says with a wink and a smile, and before he can ask another question, she walks off, leaving him to stare after her, a small confused frown on his face, before he catches himself and turns towards the bay on his left.

As soon as he enters the large room, his eyes fall on the dark-haired girl sitting on the bed with her legs pulled up, headphones in her ears and staring at something in her lap, which a closer look reveals to be some kind of tablet computer. At his approach, she looks up, and her eyes light up when they fall on him.

“Dominic,” she says with a bright smile, and he can’t help but smile back at her. He pulls a chair up next to the bed and sits down.

“I’m sorry I haven’t come to see you sooner, Tasha, but I guess you can imagine that work has been nonstop for the last few days.” He takes a careful look around the rest of the bay, but finds that most other patients are either asleep or deep in conversation with their own visitors.

“I bet it was,” Natasha says, and her smile slips the tiniest bit. “I’m glad you’re all right.”

“Isn’t that what I should be saying to you?” he asks, raising his eyebrows at her, and she gives him a small laugh in return.

“I guess we’re both equally as lucky to be alive. But quite honestly Dominic, I can’t believe…” she pauses, takes a look around, then lowers her voice and adds, “I can’t believe you went to _purgatory_.”

Dominic sighs. “So Tom told you about that, huh.”

“Of course he did,” she says, eyes wide and accusing. “Someone at least deems me important enough to let me know what’s been going on.”

“I’m sorry, Tasha,” he says, giving her a small smile. “As I said already, I’ve barely had a free minute these last few days. I would’ve told you everything eventually.”

Natasha huffs. “Not if you’d died in there you wouldn’t’ve.”

“No,” he says, meeting her eyes. “But at the time I did it, I didn’t even know what had happened to you. It all happened so quickly, I—”

“You felt like you needed to save Hal, I get that.” Her face contorts into an ugly grimace when she adds, “Although I can’t for the life of me understand how you can stand being around him after… I just… When that Carl guy bit me, all I remember is thinking that was the worst pain I ever felt in my life. And then, when it was all over, all I could think about was when I saw you and Hal together, and that you _let_ him do that to you, and I can’t help thinking… how can you stand it, Dominic?”

Dominic clears his throat and says, “I don’t anymore.”

Natasha frowns. “So you’re back together, but you don’t let him—” she lowers her voice once more, “—drink your blood anymore?”

He nods. “That’s right.”

“Huh,” she says, frown still firmly in place. After a moment, she adds, “How does that work?”

Before he can catch himself, Dominic lets out a small huff and says, “Not very well.”

The look in her eyes is almost sympathetic when she says, “I can imagine. I came up to the front door of the house once, and he almost broke the cellar door down.”

“He’s been… better, in a way, since he’s come back,” Dominic says carefully. He still doesn’t fully understand what brought on the change in Hal, but the fact is that he is at least able to be in the same room as him without permanently trying to rip his throat out. He gives Natasha a small smile. “We’re working on it.”

“I see,” she says, sounding unconvinced. “Well, I hope you’ll forgive me if I decide not to move in with you anytime soon.”

He nods. “Of course. You could… live at my old flat, if you’d like. I have to keep it anyway, for work, so you might as well make use of it.”

“For work?” she asks, giving him a questioning look.

He lets out a humourless laugh. “I can’t very well tell them I’ve moved into the lion’s den, can I?”

She gives him a small crooked smile. “That would definitely make for an interesting conversation.”

“No thanks,” he says, shaking his head emphatically. “I’ve already had one of those.”

“What do you mean?” she asks, sounding intrigued, and he sighs.

“The Home Secretary…” he pauses, takes a deep breath, and continues, “He knows about Hal.”

Natasha’s eyes almost pop out of their sockets. “You mean about you and Hal?”

He nods. “Yes.”

“Shit, Dominic,” she breathes. “How did he find out?”

“Casselli,” he says darkly, and he sees Natasha frown at the mention of the name.

“I always knew he was going to be bad news,” she says, and Dominic can’t help but nod in agreement. “So what did the Home Secretary say?”

Dominic snorts. “That I should ‘cease my relations with the Type 2 immediately’,” he quotes. “But don’t worry about it, I’ve got it all in hand. He can’t actually do anything and he knows it.”

She looks at him with a furrowed brow, slowly shaking her head. “You’ve changed so much.”

He gives her a small, hesitant smile. “I hope that’s a good thing.”

There is a long pause before she replies, “The jury’s still out on that one.”

He meets her eyes, and they sit in silence, looking at each other for a long moment. At one point she opens her mouth and looks like she is about to say something, but the next moment she seems to have changed her mind, and lets out a deep sigh instead.

“We’ve been talking about me an awful lot,” Dominic says eventually. “How are _you_ feeling, Tasha?”

“I’m okay,” she says with a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “They probably would’ve let me go already, if it wasn’t for the stupid psych liaison blabbing about my drug issues, and now they’re trying to get me into some kind of rehab programme.”

“But surely that’s a good thing, Tasha,” Dominic says with an encouraging smile.

“Yeah,” she says, then looks down and adds, “Except that means that Tom is going to find out, which probably means he’s going to find out about the… other thing as well.”

“If he really cares about you, Tasha, he’s going to love you no matter what,” he says, and her eyes flick up to meet his, an unreadable expression on her face. “And if he doesn’t, he never deserved you in the first place.”

She gives him a small, sad smile then that he doesn’t quite know how to place. He is about to open his mouth and ask, but she quickly shakes her head. “Some things are better left unsaid,” she says, and he feels a strange, unexplained ache in his heart.

“I think I better go,” he says after a moment, getting up from his chair and throwing another small smile in her direction. “Let me know how you get on, and when you’re about to be discharged, so I can get the flat ready for you. If you still want it, that is.”

“Thank you, Dominic,” she says. “I’d love that. And you’re welcome to come visit me again, you know. It’s kinda boring in here.”

He gives her another small laugh and says, “Gladly, Tasha. See you soon,” before making his way back across the large room to the exit.

***

The alarm clock on the bedside table reads 6.01 AM, and Hal clenches his teeth together painfully as he averts his gaze from the sleeping man on the bed, forcing himself to look at the letters on the page in front of him instead. Almost immediately, he can feel a surge of anger rise up in his body, a feeling that is clearly not his own, but still affecting him all the same, like a fist clenching around his stomach, twisting, squeezing. Almost like the hunger, but not quite.

Hal’s brow furrows. That’s the other part of the last six days that he doesn’t manage to get his head around. The hunger, that constant burning pain, appears to have lessened, weakened, at around the same time that he first started feeling that strange compulsion to watch, to observe the man in front of him, as if he is seeing him through a different pair of eyes altogether.

_You basically are._

_What is happening to me?_ he asks, not really expecting an answer at all. The more surprised he is when it comes anyway.

_You are getting a bit of a taste of what it was like to be me in those torturous few months when you didn’t let me have a moment’s peace without trying to make me feel your ridiculous morals._

Hal shakes his head. _But if you’re influencing me, why aren’t you trying to get me to drink his blood? Why are you just_ sitting _here like it’s the most fascinating thing in the world?_

He hears the other one let out an amused chuckle. _You already know the answer to that question._

Hal feels his breath catch in his throat, and another surge of anger rises up in him, but this time he knows it’s entirely his own. _No._

He feels the other one forcing his lips into a smug smile. _Yes._

Giving himself an almighty shake, he forcefully takes control back of his body, and his eyes wander back over to the man sleeping on the bed. Dominic has shifted slightly in his sleep, and there is a frown line between his brows that was not there a few minutes ago.

“No,” Dominic mumbles then, and the sound of his voice in the complete silence of the pre-dawn morning startles Hal. “No, I won’t,” he speaks up again after a moment, and Hal frowns.

There is a part of him that wants to wake Dominic up, to help him escape from the obvious nightmare, but the bigger part of him, the one that is still terrified of initiating any kind of physical contact, eventually succeeds in keeping him still, sitting on the sofa, at a safe distance.

 _You really have to get over yourself,_ the other one says, and Hal can physically feel his eyes rolling at himself. _It’s not much of a_ relationship _if you’re too afraid to even touch him, is it?_

Hal swallows, his eyes never leaving Dominic, who seems to have relaxed and settled back down into a deeper, more peaceful sleep. _What’s it to you what I do or don’t do in_ my _relationship?_ he asks gruffly.

 _Really, Hal?_ is all he gets as a reply, and with a deep, frustrated sigh, he pointedly looks down at the book in his lap, re-reading the first four lines of the poem for what must be the fiftieth time.

***

The first thing Dominic notices when he wakes up is the fact that Hal is once again not in bed with him, but is sitting on the sofa, book in his lap, pretending to read. This is all starting to feel very old very fast.

“Hal?” he asks, voice croaky from disuse. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Hal says brashly, pointedly not meeting his eyes, and Dominic frowns.

“Are you sure? You’ve been… acting really weird recently.”

Hal doesn’t reply at first, but Dominic is determined he is not going to back down today.

“Hal, look at me,” he says, and slowly, reluctantly, Hal meets his eyes with his own. And there it is again, for a split second, that same look he saw yesterday, that peculiar glint in Hal’s eyes that at the same time looks so foreign and so painfully familiar, and suddenly the answer comes to him as if it should have been obvious all along. “It’s the other one, isn’t it?”

Hal’s shoulders visibly tense, and he takes in a sharp breath. “How could you tell?”

Dominic lets out a small chuckle. “I’ve met him before.”

Hal looks at him with a deep frown on his face. “Yes, but… when you met him, all he was interested in was your blood.”

Dominic holds his gaze, even as he feels his own face mirror Hal’s frown. “And now he isn’t?”

Hal sighs. “I’m… not entirely sure. It’s—” He stops abruptly then, squeezes his eyes shut and sits in complete stillness for a moment, before he looks back at Dominic again and says, “I’m sorry.”

“He’s in there with you right now, isn’t he?”

Hal nods, and sighs again. “Yes, he is. He has been ever since I got back. It’s… infuriating.”

There is a short pause in which neither of them speaks, before Dominic clears his throat and says, “What you said before, about him being different…” he trails off, lifting his eyebrows at Hal.

“Yes,” Hal starts, then stands up and walks over towards the window, where the first few lonely rays of sunlight are starting to come over the horizon. “Ever since we got back from purgatory, he seems… unusually interested in you.” He turns back and gives Dominic a significant look. “ _You_ , not just your blood.”

For some reason that he doesn’t really want to explore in any more detail at this moment, Dominic’s heart stutters and speeds up at Hal’s words. “ _Interested_ as in…?” he asks.

Hal’s face darkens. “Interested as in attracted to you,” he bites out.

Dominic looks at Hal for a long moment, takes in the displeased scowl on his face. His thoughts wander back to earlier, to the exact nature of that look on Hal’s face, of where he has seen it before, and finally the pieces all fall into place. He takes a deep breath and calmly says, “I know.”

Hal throws him a sharp look. “What do you mean, you know?”

“I mean,” he starts, then closes his eyes to gather his thoughts, and continues, “When I went through your memories, in purgatory, I… met him. I think it must have been some time in the fifties. The nineteen-fifties. You… he… was with some other vampire called Cutler, watching a dog fight.”

Hal’s eyes widen. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

Dominic gives him a grim smile. “That was hardly the worst thing I got to see. But anyway, the point I was trying to make was that he… he was clearly attracted to me then. He kept talking about…” he trails off, averting his eyes as he feels heat creeping into his cheeks at the memory.

“About what, Dominic?” Hal prompts, now sounding intrigued.

Dominic sighs and says, “How pretty my eyes are.”

Hal doesn’t reply immediately, and Dominic chances a look up at him, only to see him looking back at him with narrowed eyes. “So he didn’t kill you?” he asks eventually.

Dominic shakes his head. “No. Not in that memory, anyway.”

Hal’s frown deepens, but it looks more confused than angry now.

“I don’t understand,” he says, so quietly that it sounds like his words are not meant for Dominic at all. Then he takes a slow, careful step towards the bed, followed by another one.

Dominic’s eyes widen as he watches Hal approach, and he shuffles himself over towards the side, swinging his legs out so he is sitting on the edge of the bed, looking up at Hal, who comes to a stop in front of him and gives him a cautious glance.

Dominic swallows nervously, waiting for Hal to make the first move, afraid he would scare him away if he did. He can see Hal’s nostrils flare almost imperceptibly for a moment, but then Hal lifts up a trembling hand and touches Dominic’s cheek, the barest brush of fingertips against skin, and Dominic holds his breath, not wanting anything to interrupt this moment. Hal’s fingers slowly move down his jawline and the side of his neck, and Dominic can’t suppress the shiver that runs through him when they brush against the two small, circular scars on his neck.

“Hal,” he breathes, his eyes slipping closed, as Hal’s fingers hover over his pulse point for a long moment before coming back up to his chin, tilting his head up. He can feel Hal’s cool breath on his face as he leans down towards him, closer, and finally he feels Hal’s soft lips brush against his own, no urgency in the movement at all, just a gentle touch of lips against lips. Dominic lets out a soft sigh against Hal’s mouth before moving in again, kissing him back, one of his hands coming up to the back of Hal’s head to play with the soft, short hairs there.

They kiss for a long, blissful moment, and at some point, Dominic’s hands wander down to the hem of Hal’s shirt, and he pushes it up, fingers brushing against the sensitive skin of his sides, and he can feel Hal shiver under his touch. He stands up from the bed then, nudging Hal’s arms up to help him push the shirt up the rest of the way, and he only interrupts their kiss for the briefest moment as he pushes the shirt up over his head before dropping it unceremoniously next to them on the floor. A moment later, his mouth is back on Hal’s and his hands come down to lie on Hal’s shoulders before moving down the front of his chest. His thumbs lightly brush over both of Hal’s nipples, and Hal lets out a soft moan that vibrates against his mouth.

Dominic is suddenly hyperaware that he is only in his boxers, while Hal is still wearing his tight black jeans, and that the thin fabric is doing nothing to hide the state of his arousal. They are standing so close now that he can feel the tip of his cock brush against Hal’s thigh, and Hal must have noticed it too, because the next moment he freezes, then jumps away from Dominic and looks at him for a moment with wide, fearful eyes before he squeezes his eyes tightly shut and loudly says, “No, shut up!”

Dominic is breathing heavily from their impromptu make-out session, and he stares at Hal for a long, silent moment following his unexpected outburst. When Hal doesn’t say anything more, but just stands there, unmoving, with his eyes closed, Dominic clears his throat and quietly asks, “Hal? What did he say?”

Hal lets out a harsh little laugh. “Nothing that’s worth repeating.”

Swallowing, Dominic says, “I’d like to know, Hal.”

“Why are you so obsessed with knowing what he thinks?” Hal asks, raising his eyebrows at him.

“Just tell me, please,” Dominic replies, holding his gaze.

Hal sighs and shakes his head, but says, “Fine, if you insist.” He pauses, takes a deep breath and continues, “He… told me that I need to learn to trust myself with you, that I’m an Old One and not some stupid new recruit with no self control.”

Dominic furrows his brow at him. “That sounds like very sensible advice to me.”

Hal huffs and shakes his head again, giving Dominic an unreadable look. “You would say that.”

Ignoring the jibe, Dominic continues, “That’s not all he said, though, is it?”

Hal’s eyes flick down to the floor then, clearly uncomfortable about something. “No, it wasn’t,” he says reluctantly.

Dominic waits for him to continue for a long moment, but when he doesn’t, he gives him an expectant look and asks, “What else did he say, Hal?”

“I really don’t think—” Hal starts, but Dominic doesn’t let him finish.

“Hal,” he prompts, eyebrows raised, and he is surprised at the raw intensity in Hal’s gaze when he lifts his eyes back up to meet his.

“He said, ‘Stop being such a goddamn coward and fuck him already.’”

Dominic feels his breath catch in his throat and heat rise into his cheeks as a powerful surge of arousal shoots straight into his groin at Hal’s unexpected words. “Well,” he says finally, voice breaking slightly as he speaks, “I never thought I’d say this, but I completely agree with him.”

“Dominic—” Hal starts, but Dominic takes a step towards him, closing the gap between them again and holding a finger to Hal’s lips.

“Don’t fight it, Hal. Listen to him,” he whispers.

Hal looks straight at him then, and Dominic sees the look in his eyes change from fear and resistance to something close to acceptance.

“Okay,” Hal says quietly, giving him a brisk nod. “But not now,” he adds, taking a step backwards from him and nodding over to the empty bed. “It’s still early. You should try and get some more sleep.”

Dominic stares at him in wide-eyed disbelief. “You’re kidding me.”

Hal sighs and turns away from him, back towards the window. “No, I’m not. Go back to sleep.”

Dominic lets out a frustrated sigh. “Hal—”

“I’ll think about it, okay?” Hal snaps, whirling back around and meeting his eyes for one fleeting moment. “Please don’t ask any more of me right now.”

Knowing he has clearly lost this battle, Dominic silently turns around and climbs back into bed, all the while feeling Hal’s eyes burning holes into his naked back. Hal’s words from a minute ago still echo in his head, repeating themselves again and again and again.

_“Stop being such a goddamn coward and fuck him already.”_

_I want you to, Hal,_ he thinks. _I’ve never wanted anything so much in my life._

Heaving a deep, heavy sigh, he closes his eyes, knowing full well that sleep is most certainly going to evade him for the rest of the morning.

***

Dominic shakes himself and loudly clears his throat as he realises that his thoughts have once again wandered off to his encounter with Hal earlier this morning, and he forces himself to look back down to his laptop screen. His eyes wander over the report one of his employees put together about what appears to be a recent series of targeted killings of Type 2s in the north of England by an unknown perpetrator.

Dominic frowns as he once again reads over the final paragraph.

_In conclusion, due to the complete lack of CCTV evidence of any of the individual offences, it must be assumed that these five deaths are the work of either another Type 2, or, less likely, a Type 1. The motive for the assaults so far remains unclear, as none of the victims appear to have known each other or have any kind of third party connections. At this point, the evidence seems to indicate that the perpetrator is either a Type 2 recruited against their will that is on a vendetta against their own species, or a vengeful Type 1 that died at the hands of a Type 2 and is now seeking retribution._

Apart from the recent incident in Barry, the supernatural world had been unusually quiet for the last few weeks, and the sudden emergence of these targeted assaults gives Dominic a feeling of unease that he isn’t able to shake off.

“…sir?” Adrian’s voice suddenly interrupts his thoughts, and Dominic looks up to see the man standing in front of his desk, giving him a questioning look.

“Yes, Adrian?” he quickly asks, painfully aware that he missed the beginning of the question.

“I was asking if you wanted a cup of tea, sir?” the young man asks, brow furrowing at his obvious absentmindedness.

“I would love one, thanks,” Dominic replies with a polite smile, and Adrian gives him a small nod in acknowledgement before walking off in the direction of the staff room.

The sound of the radio drifts into his consciousness, and he listens to the tail end of the eleven o’clock news while waiting for his tea to arrive.

“…a spokesperson from South Wales Police said today that the Barry massacre was most definitely not a terrorist attack, and that the five people linked to the crime had instead met on an online forum, where they had painstakingly planned the attack over a matter of six months before carrying it out.”

Dominic rolls his eyes and sighs. Looking at the actual scale of the crime, this has certainly not been their best nor most believable cover story, but at the end of the day, the public rarely actually question what is said on the news. And he has an excellent track record in effectively shutting down conspiracy theories.

“In other news, we are starting to get a little bit impatient over here, Dominic,” the news reader continues, and Dominic’s eyes widen when he processes what he has just heard. “We thought that the vampire would have surely finished you off by now, but since that still hasn’t happened, it looks like we will have to engage other means if you don’t come back to us willingly.”

“What?” Dominic asks, eyes darting across the empty room. “What do you mean by that?”

“We are waiting for you,” the news reader replies, and Dominic frowns.

His head whips around to the door when he hears footsteps coming towards him, and he sees Adrian walking in his direction, coming to a stop at his desk and placing his favourite union jack mug down in front of him.

“Thank you,” he says absentmindedly, then, frown still firmly in place and directed at Adrian, he asks, “Did you just hear that?”

“Hear what sir? That Cardiff won against Accrington Stanley?” Adrian asks, sounding slightly nonplussed. Then he takes a closer look at Dominic and his eyes widen. “Sir? Your nose,” he says urgently, and rummages in his pockets for something, before holding out a plain white handkerchief to him. Dominic frowns at the handkerchief.

“What’s that for?” he asks, but before Adrian has a chance to reply, he sees a small drop of red landing on the surface of the wooden desk in front of him. Dominic takes the offered handkerchief and presses it to his bleeding nose. “Thanks,” he says quietly.

“Are you all right, sir?” Adrian asks with a furrowed brow.

Dominic gives him a tense smile. “I’m fine. I must have just… burst a blood vessel or something.”

Looking decidedly unconvinced, Adrian nonetheless gives him a small nod and says, “If you’re sure, sir.”

“Yes, thank you, Adrian,” he replies, then musters up another forced smile and says, “I’m sure you’ve got lots of things to get on with.”

Adrian visibly swallows. “Of course, sir. I’ll leave you to it.” And with that, he turns on his heels and walks towards the door, leaving Dominic once again alone in the large room.

“…can expect another bright and sunny day with only the occasional cloud blocking the sun, with highs of nineteen degrees,” the weather presenter says on the radio.

Dominic shakes his head, the handkerchief still firmly pressed to his bleeding nose. The sleep deprivation from all those early morning awakenings is clearly starting to play tricks on him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Useless fact of the day:
> 
> Cardiff City did beat Accrington Stanley 2:0 in the League Cup 2nd Round on Wednesday 28th August 2013.


	22. Uncomfortable Truths

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi and sorry once again for the long wait. The good news is that I have TWO chapters for you today! These two were originally going to be one, and I didn't feel that this chapter was necessarily going to stand that well on its own, so I waited to have both of them written to post them both together.
> 
> Enjoy!

Misplaced  
Given chances you won't take  
Shy away from the heart ache  
Just a means to an end

Your quick fix  
In the ring of the conflict  
With nothing to work with  
And nothing in mind

\- The Boxer Rebellion, “Misplaced”

Hal is sitting at the table by the window, about three-quarters into what may well be his most perfectly laid-out domino spiral to date, when Alex ambles into the room and gracelessly flops down in the chair opposite him with a heavy sigh.

Hal clenches his teeth and raises his eyebrows at his friend. “Can I help you?”

“Just… wondering how you’re doing, is all,” Alex says nonchalantly. 

Hal narrows his eyes at her. “Any particular reason why you’re asking?”

“No,” she says, shrugging. Her eyes wander down to the domino spiral, and she shakes her head. “Don’t you ever get bored of doing that?”

Hal sighs. “No, Alex. It’s part of my routine. How many times do I have to explain—”

“Yes, god, I understand about the bloody routine, Hal,” she snaps, rolling her eyes at him. “What I was more meaning was… don’t you ever feel like doing something different? Something new?”

Hal’s brow furrows as he looks at her. “Like what?”

Alex, obviously waiting for him to give her that opening, takes a deep breath and rushes out, “Like working in the hotel, for example?”

Hal scoffs and directs his attention back to the domino spiral, doing his very best to steady his trembling hand as he carefully places the next domino.

Alex, it seems, doesn’t take no for an answer, because the next moment she continues, “It’s just that we are starting to get behind on the rent, and Tom and I were thinking—”

“Dominic can sort that out,” Hal says absentmindedly, not taking his eyes off the dominoes.

“Yes, I know, he’s offered. But the thing is, Hal, it’s a little unfair to rely on him so heavily when you should be perfectly able—”

“It’s a little unfair on me to have to spend half my waking hours around him, and yet he is staying anyway, without once having asked me about it. I don’t think there is any problem with him having to pay his due.”

Alex doesn’t respond immediately, and Hal lifts his eyes to find her staring at him with an astonished expression on her face. “Is that really what you think about him?”

He averts his gaze, placing the next domino, then the next one. All the while he can feel Alex’s eyes piercing into him.

“Hal?” she prompts, and he heaves a deep sigh.

“It’s a little more complicated than that. But yes, essentially I think that he is a complete idiot for doing what he does, and I don’t think there is any chance that this is ever going to last.” He lifts his eyes to meet Alex’s. “Happy now?”

Alex scowls at him. “No, Hal. Jesus, no, I’m not ‘happy now’. But you’ve already told me once that you don’t care what I think, so I’m not going to waste my breath telling you.”

She jumps to her feet, and his eyes follow her as she briskly walks over towards the kitchen. She is almost through the door when he calls, “Alex, wait.”

She whirls around on the spot, facing him with an angry frown on her face. “What, Hal?”

He clears his throat and says, “I would like to know what you think.”

Alex huffs. “What, so you can not care about something you know rather than something you don’t? Or is it just the control freak in you not being able to cope with not knowing everything that is going on in everybody else’s heads?”

Hal briefly closes his eyes to calm himself and says, “Just tell me, please, Alex.”

“Okay then,” Alex snaps. “You want to know what I think? I think that you’re a cowardly, ungrateful, sanctimonious arsehole, and that you don’t deserve one bit of what Dominic did for you, what he is still doing for you. Do you think you’re the only one who is suffering in this great fuck-up of a situation? Have you ever even looked at the effect it is having on him?” 

Hal stares at his friend with wide eyes, opening his mouth, then closing it again with no idea what he can possibly say to her accusations. 

_You know why that is, don’t you?_ the other one pipes up in his head. 

_Yes,_ Hal bites out reluctantly. _It’s because she has a point._

 _Good boy,_ the other one taunts. _You’re learning._

 _Oh, please, shut up and get out of my head. I’ve head enough of your interference,_ Hal replies, and it is only his awareness of Alex’s continued presence in the room that keeps him from rolling his eyes.

“Hal?” Alex’s voice drifts over from the kitchen door, and he gives himself a little shake, looking over in her direction.

“Yes, Alex?”

She gives him another frown then, but this one looks more concerned than angry. “Are you all right? You looked like you were completely spaced out there for a moment.”

Hal throws her a small smile. “Yes, thank you, I’m fine. Just tired.”

“You’re still not sleeping, huh?” she asks, slowly walking back over towards him.

He sighs. “No, Alex, I’m not, but I really don’t want to discuss my sleeping habits with you right now.”

He almost expects another tirade from his friend, but all he gets from Alex is a sad little smile. “You really need to sort this mess out, Hal. Something needs to happen, for both of your sakes. Shit, for all of our sakes. Don’t think that Tom and I aren’t feeling the tension as well.”

“I know,” he says, looking away from her and back down to his domino spiral. 

“If you want me to do anything,” Alex starts, “I don’t know, talk to him or whatever, I’d be happy to—”

“No, thank you, Alex,” he says without looking back up. He picks up the last domino, holds it tightly between his treacherously trembling fingers for a moment, then carefully places it at the end of the spiral. Sitting back in the chair, he critically examines the result of work – a perfect spiral sprawled out across the table. “I’ll handle it.” 

***

Dominic sighs as he glances at the clock on his dashboard, which shows 10.21 PM. He has been stuck at work, finalising the report about a Type 1-related incident in Swansea, for the last three hours, and he feels about ready to drop. Looking up at the house, he sees no lights on in the front room, and he muses that Hal must have already gone upstairs. He may even already be asleep, catching a few precious moments of undisturbed sleep before Dominic’s return. Thinking about how he might take the opportunity to reverse their roles and spend some time watching Hal sleep for a change, he slowly gets out of his car and walks up to the front door, fishing in his pocket for his keys. 

As soon as the inner porch door opens, Dominic’s senses pick up the tell-tale smell of Chinese takeaway wafting over from the direction of the kitchen. A small smile spreads across his face as he follows the delicious smell along the hallway and into the kitchen, where he stops in the doorway when his eyes fall on Hal, who is in the process of unpacking several foil containers onto the table. 

As soon as he enters, Hal’s eyes snap up and meet his own across the room, and Dominic’s heart stutters as he takes in the warm, gentle expression in Hal’s eyes, with barely a glimpse of that predatory intensity that he has gotten so used to over the last week.

“Hey,” Hal says, smiling. “You finally made it.”

“I have,” Dominic replies with a smile and a nod, still hovering in the doorway. “What’s all this?” he asks, indicating the food on the table.

“Oh, erm… I hope you don’t mind that I ordered for you,” Hal says, a wide-eyed, uncertain look on his face that makes him look a lot younger than he is. 

It’s adorable, Dominic thinks, unable to tear his eyes away from Hal for a long moment, before he realises that he hasn’t actually answered Hal’s question yet. “I… no, of course I don’t mind.” 

_What brought this on?_ he can’t help but think, eyes wandering from Hal to the food spread out on the table and back again. _Don’t question it,_ he chastises himself a moment later. _Isn’t this exactly what you wanted?_

Taking a closer look at the food containers on the table, he notices that there are only four of them – one containing rice, one with what he can only assume is sweet and sour chicken, one holding a couple of mini spring rolls, and one with some kind of stir-fried noodle dish. 

Hal clears his throat, and Dominic’s eyes flick back up to him. “It’s just for us,” Hal explains. “Tom is working a late shift tonight, and Alex… well, Alex doesn’t eat anyway, but she’s gone out, is what I meant. So it’s just us… in the house… tonight.” He averts his eyes, and Dominic’s brow furrows at his obvious nervousness. 

He takes a careful step towards the table when a thought occurs to him. “Wait, you ordered something for yourself?” he asks, a small smile on his lips.

Hal nods, still not looking at him. “Yes. I didn’t want you to have to eat alone.”

Dominic feels warmth spread in his chest at his words. “That’s very… thoughtful of you,” he says, taking another step closer. “Thank you.” He lifts his hand and lightly runs his fingers down the sleeve of Hal’s shirt, and he can feel the other flinch almost imperceptibly under his touch, but he doesn’t move away, doesn’t shake him off, and Dominic takes it as a green light to gently take Hal’s hand in his own. 

Hal’s eyes dart down to their joint hands briefly before finally meeting Dominic’s, and for a fraction of a second Dominic can clearly see the tension and anxiety that he is trying so hard not to show, before he hides them away behind a thick wall of stoicism and gives him a soft smile. 

“Have a seat,” Hal says quietly, and Dominic lets go of Hal’s hand to pull the chair out from under the table. Hal sits down on the other side, and their eyes meet once more across the table. Dominic recognises the beginnings of that familiar intensity in Hal’s gaze now, and he instinctively looks down, letting his eyes wander over the food containers instead. 

“That smells delicious,” he says.

“It does indeed,” Hal replies in a deep, raw voice. Dominic’s heart skips a beat and his eyes widen as he looks back up at Hal, only to find him sitting with his eyes squeezed tightly shut and a pained expression on his face. “I’m so sorry,” he gasps out. “That wasn’t… I didn’t mean to… that was him.”

Dominic swallows. “It’s okay, Hal,” he says gently. “I don’t mind.”

Immediately, Hal’s eyes fly open and he gives him an incredulous look. “What do you mean, you don’t mind?”

“I mean,” Dominic says with a sigh, “that I _know_ you like the smell of my blood. That’s not news to me, Hal, and it doesn’t make me uncomfortable. It’s not something you need to hide from me.”

Hal’s brow furrows as he wordlessly stares at him for a long moment, then he shakes his head and says, “Why don’t we make a start before the food gets cold?”

Dominic gives him a small, sad smile, trying not to think too much about the reason behind the sudden, aching pain in his heart. “Yes, why not?” he replies, and starts spooning some rice and sweet and sour chicken onto his plate. Hal does the same with his noodles, and for the next few minutes, they sit in relative silence, both enjoying the food along with furtive, stolen glances across the table. 

Dominic finds that he can’t get enough of the sight of Hal actually _eating_ something, after getting so used to just seeing him listlessly sipping on a glass of water for most of their joint meals since he moved in more than a week ago. And as soon as he averts his gaze and looks back down to this own plate, he can feel Hal’s eyes flick up and bore into him like laser beams, as if he can see straight through the surface of his skin to the fast running blood underneath. 

This is how it continues for the rest of the meal, until Hal finally lays his fork down with a heavy sigh and sits back in his chair. Dominic looks up to find Hal glancing back at him with an unreadable expression on his face. 

“You finished?” he asks, nodding towards Hal’s half-empty plate. 

Hal nods. “Yes, sorry, I couldn’t possibly eat any more.”

“You did well,” Dominic says with a smile, and Hal laughs.

“I do my best.”

Their eyes meet across the table then, blue staring intently into hazel, and neither of them moves or even blinks for a long moment. Dominic barely notices the hand holding his fork loosening its grip until the piece of cutlery drops down on his plate with a sharp _clang_ , and even then he can’t tear his eyes away from Hal’s warm hazel ones. 

“Would you like to… go upstairs?” Hal says eventually, sounding hesitant.

Dominic’s eyes widen. “You mean…?”

“Yes,” he says and clears his throat. “If you want.”

Dominic can already feel his heart speeding up again, and he gives Hal a small, jerky nod. “Of course I do.”

Hal mirrors his nod, then swiftly get up from his chair and holds a hand out to Dominic, who looks at it for a moment in utter astonishment before taking it, allowing Hal to pull him to his feet. Dominic’s stomach flutters wildly as he holds on to the cool hand in his own and follows Hal out of the kitchen, up the stairs, and through the door into his… into _their_ room. 

The door falls shut behind them, and Hal lets go of his hand and turns around to him, a serious expression on his face. Then he takes a deep, shaky breath and says, “Okay.”

Dominic can’t help the small frown that creeps into his face. “Okay?” he echoes.

Hal nods, eyes darting around the room nervously. “Yes. I…” he drifts off, clears his throat, then continues, “I’m ready.”

Dominic’s frown deepens. “Hal, what—”

But he doesn’t get to finish as Hal takes a determined step towards him, Adam’s apple rising and falling quickly a few times as he reaches out a trembling hand, runs it down the centre of Dominic’s chest and says, “What would you like me to do?”

Dominic’s breath catches in his throat as in his head, he hears the echo of another voice, the voice of a skinny ten-year-old boy, looking at him with wide hazel eyes.

_“What can I do for you, sir?”_

Dominic looks back at Hal and sees the same wide hazel eyes looking at him now, that same expectant look in them as he waits for Dominic’s response, and he feels a painful stab in his heart as the realisation hits him that Hal is doing this for him… _only_ for him. There is no reciprocity, no real interest or excitement on Hal’s part, just a grim determination to give him what he so clearly told him the other day that he wants.

Dominic lets out a deep sigh, and Hal’s brow furrows. “Is… something wrong?” he asks hesitantly.

Dominic quickly shakes his head. “No, I just…” he trails off, gives Hal a small, sad smile and reaches a hand out, taking hold of Hal’s and tugging him along with him towards the bed. “You don’t have to do anything,” he says, and he quickly strips out of his own suit before helping Hal out of his shirt and jeans. Then he lies down on the bed and pulls Hal along until he comes to lie next to him, facing him. 

“I don’t understand,” Hal says, giving him a puzzled look. “I thought you wanted to—”

“Shh,” Dominic says, moving in so close to Hal that their noses are almost touching on the pillow. His right arm snakes around Hal’s side and comes to lie flat against his back. “I changed my mind. Maybe we can just… lie here? Like this?”

“But—”

“It’s okay, Hal,” he whispers, hand brushing gently against the small of his back, “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Ever. You hear me?”

“What makes you think—”

“Shh,” Dominic says again, and finally, he can feel Hal settle down and slowly relax under his touch. They lie in silence for a long while, and Dominic can start to feel the peace and tranquility that signals to him that he is about to drift off to sleep. 

He doesn’t know what makes him open his mouth again in that moment, but the words tumble out before he is even consciously aware of saying them, “It was Florence.”

“What?” Hal asks sharply, tensing up and pulling away from him on the pillow. Dominic can see him swallowing repeatedly as he takes his time to process exactly what Dominic just told him. His brow furrows and he asks, “How can you possibly know that?”

“I met her,” Dominic says quietly, and his hand restarts the soothing circles he had been drawing on the small of Hal’s back. “In purgatory. She looked just like you. To be honest, I’m surprised you never realised.”

Hal lets out a shaky breath. “I thought it might have been her, but I was never sure. I…” he trails off, eyes widening as he makes another connection. “You were there? You… you saw me… there?”

Dominic nods. “You were ten.”

“Oh god,” Hal breathes, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to pull away from him, but Dominic tightens his arm around Hal’s back, holding him close to him.

“It’s okay, Hal,” he says, and leans in to press a gentle kiss to his closed lips. “None of it was your fault, all right? And I certainly don’t love you any less because of what happened to you there.”

He waits for Hal to respond for a long time, but Hal just lies there with his eyes closed for several minutes without so much as acknowledging his presence at all. Then, in a quiet, hesitant voice and with his eyes still tightly shut, he asks, “You’re sure it was Florence?”

Dominic can’t help the small smile that spreads on his face. “Yes, Hal. One hundred percent.”

Hal’s eyes fly open, and Dominic is startled to see that all his defences have come right down, leaving him looking so very young, open and vulnerable. “Thank you,” Hal says, giving him what may well be his first genuine smile of the night.

“You’re welcome.”

They lie in silence again for several minutes, and Dominic is well in the process of finally nodding off when Hal says, “I hope she wasn’t too forward when you spoke to her.”

Dominic lets out a quiet chuckle. “Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

Hal snorts. “Says the man who blushes bright red when I dare use the f-word.”

Dominic feels a fresh influx of blood into his cheeks at the memory of Hal’s unexpected verbal outburst the other day.

“’S not the same thing,” he tries to explain, words starting to slur slightly as he drifts closer and closer to sleep. “You actually turn me on.”

Hal lets out another quite laugh. “Good thing I guess that you don’t feel the same about my mother.”

“Yeah,” Dominic mumbles, hardly able to keep a hold of his thoughts. “That would just be weird.”

He can feel more than hear Hal’s quiet chuckle as he leans in and presses his cool lips against his own. “Yes,” Hal whispers, smiling against his mouth. “It would be.”

***

Dominic wakes up the next morning to find the space next to him empty. 

“Hal?” he calls, almost out of habit, expecting the other’s voice to drift over from the sofa any moment. When it doesn’t, he lifts his head to take a look around the room, and a small frown creeps into his face when he realises that he is completely alone.

With a shake of his head, Dominic gets out of bed and walks over to the wardrobe, getting out a change of clothes before padding across the hallway to the bathroom. He makes quick work of his morning shower, gets dried and dressed and makes his way downstairs. Entering the kitchen, he finds it equally unoccupied, and he prepares his breakfast in silence before carrying it through the swinging doors into the living room. There, finally, he can sense Alex’s presence sitting at the table and, from the looks of it, leafing through today’s newspaper.

He sends a small smile in her direction and says, “Morning, Alex.”

“Oh, hey, didn’t notice you come in,” the ghost replies. “Sleep well?”

“Not too bad,” Dominic says distractedly as places his tea and toast down on the table and takes a seat. Trying his best to sound nonchalant, he asks, “Have you seen Hal?”

“Yeah, he and Tom have gone out for a run in the woods,” she says. “Left about half an hour ago. He seemed quite… agitated this morning.” She pauses briefly, then adds, “Are you guys okay?”

Dominic sighs. “Yes, we… yes. We’re all right.” He lifts the mug to his mouth and takes a large sip of tea, relishing the way the hot liquid runs down his throat.

“Are you sure?” Alex asks sceptically. When Dominic doesn’t say anything in return, but just gives her a small nod before taking another sip of tea, she sighs and says, “All right then.”

They sit in silence for a while, with Dominic eating his toast while Alex goes back to reading the paper, and Dominic’s thoughts drift off to the previous evening. To the way Hal so desperately tried to give him what he wanted even while completely shutting himself off emotionally from what was happening, for fear of losing control. And then, a little snippet comes back to him, of Hal giving him a wild, hungry look across the table, the raw intensity in his voice as he commented on the smell of Dominic’s blood, and he still feels the distant echo of the excitement he felt in that moment.

 _“That was him,”_ Hal had said, as an apology, a shameful admission of that uncontrollable, evil other creature that lives in his mind. And all Dominic could think at the time was how much the words had turned him on, whoever it was that had spoken them.

Deep frown lines form on his face as he drops the half eaten toast back onto his plate and looks over in the direction of the ghost. 

“Alex?” he asks tentatively. Alex hums in acknowledgement, and he continues, “I need your help with something.”

“Something to do with Hal?” she guesses, and he nods.

“Yes.”

Alex lets out a small, exasperated laugh. “And when exactly did I become your relationship counsellor?”

Dominic’s eyes widen. “Sorry, I… sorry. Never mind.” He looks back down at his plate, lifts the toast back up to his mouth, but finds that he has lost his appetite, and drops it back down on the plate without taking a bite.

“No, I’m sorry,” Alex says quietly a moment later. “I know you guys are going through a tough time. What’s up?”

Dominic opens his mouth to speak, and realises that he can’t find the right words to say what he is trying to say. What _is_ he trying to say?

“Just start from the beginning,” Alex says, as if she is reading his mind, and he gives her a grateful smile. 

“I don’t know how much you know about… Hal’s… other identity,” he says, raising his eyebrows at her in a silent question.

Alex snorts. “You mean the one that calls me a ‘dead bitch’ and is basically rude and obnoxious as soon as he opens his mouth? Yeah, I’ve met him.”

Dominic looks at her with wide eyes. “I didn’t realise he did that.”

Alex lets out a humourless laugh. “Oh yeah, when he was in the chair, that was basically what I got from him non-stop. That’s why I could never understand how you could actually _want_ to spend time with him, and call him and stuff.”

Dominic frowns. “As I said then, he wasn’t like that with me.”

“No, I remember,” Alex replies. “He seemed to have a thing about you.”

Dominic nods and takes a deep breath before saying, “And that’s exactly what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Even though he can’t see Alex, he can still vividly imagine her narrowing her eyes at him. “About the other Hal having a thing about you?”

“Yes,” he says quietly. 

“But how is that even relevant now?” Alex asks. “I thought he’s gone? I mean, Hal is… _Hal_ again, isn’t he?”

“Yes and no,” Dominic says, and he can hear Alex taking a sharp breath. Lifting his eyes towards her and giving her a serious look, he explains, “Hal told me that ever since we got back from purgatory, the other one has been conscious in his mind, and he… talks to him, and occasionally even manages to take control of the body.”

“Shit, Dominic, I had no idea. I haven’t noticed any…” she pauses, then adds, “Scratch that, I did notice something yesterday. I didn’t think it was important, but now that you mention it… it was like he just completely zoned out for a moment, like there was no one home, and then he came back like nothing had happened.”

Dominic nods. “They were probably talking. But anyway, the point I was trying to make was that… the other Hal seems to have developed an… interest in me.”

“Huh,” Alex says. “Kinda makes sense, I guess, since he’s still sort of Hal.”

Dominic looks thoughtfully in her direction. “I never thought about it like that,” he admits. “To me, they always seemed like two completely separate people.”

“I don’t know, Dominic,” Alex admits with a sigh. “I’m not an expert on… multiple personalities, whatever it’s called.”

“Dissociative Identity Disorder,” Dominic corrects.

“Yeah, that.”

“But the thing is,” Dominic continues, trying to get back on topic, “that sometimes, the other one will do something, or say something, or look at me in a certain way, and…” he drifts off as he feels colour rising into his cheeks.

“It turns you on,” Alex finishes for him, and he gives her a small nod, swallowing down the growing lump in his throat. “And you feel like you’re not supposed to react like that, because it’s not really Hal.”

He nods again. “Yes. And Hal… he hates the other one, and he… he gets jealous, and it pains me to see him like that. But then he is always so distant and emotionally closed off, and it makes me want to…” he drifts off, unsure if he is actually ready to say what he was about to say next.

“Makes you want to do what, Dominic?” Alex prompts, and he takes a deep breath and closes his eyes.

“It makes me want to ask him to switch, just so I can get _some_ kind of reaction from him. And I know that it’s stupid and dangerous, that the other one may well end up killing me if he was fully in control of the body, but I just… I get so frustrated sometimes, Alex.”

Alex doesn’t say anything for a long, uncomfortable moment, and Dominic feels his cheeks burn, keeping his eyes firmly closed even though it makes absolutely no difference, as he wouldn’t be able to see the expression on her face either way.

Then, after what feels like a small eternity, he hears her inhaling sharply, and she says, “I think I’ve got an idea.”


	23. Synergy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo... here's the second chapter for today. The idea for this chapter has been floating around in my head for a good long while now. In fact, I first came up with it a while back when I was driving along, pondering a comment left by the lovely [letterstospace](https://archiveofourown.org/users/letterstospace), when suddenly, Interpol's "No I In Threesome" came on (which, just for the record, is probably one of my favourite songs ever, and deserves an honorary mention in this chapter, as well as a place on my [playlist](https://open.spotify.com/user/3hql24lujqro9n3yjt6tv7seu/playlist/6ZDw2g9fUm4oB5WdY5udpr?si=Wi_9PYRfRiSJTz5fDXtyBw)), and BOOM! A plot bunny was born. So, yeah. Ahem. Let's just say this chapter is 1/3 setup and 2/3 shameless smut. _Definitely_ NSFW.

See my shapes shifting  
See my heavy burdens lifting  
There was no fun in this for me  
Now there's nothing left for me to say

Separate ways  
To touch your mind  
Subconscious thoughts arising

\- Tash Sultana, “Synergy”

Hal gives the saucepan in his hand a much more vigorous scrub than strictly necessary, while trying to ignore the other one’s taunts in his head, ceaselessly reminding him of his failed attempt at intimacy with Dominic the previous night. What did not help matters was that he felt Dominic’s gaze on him all evening, daring him to look up and establish some kind of connection, when all he wanted was to disappear in a hole in the ground and never resurface again.

 _So now he knows everything about you,_ the other one remarks. _He’s seen_ everything _. Even the lengths you would go to to please him, the way it was so easy for you to fall back into those old behaviour patterns. Don’t you see that that was a really stupid idea, Hal?_

Clenching his teeth, he decides not to give him the satisfaction of an answer, and instead goes back to washing the dishes. He picks up a plate from the counter next to him, when he hears a familiar voice drifting over from the door.

“Hal?”

He doesn’t turn around to face Dominic, but gives him a short, jerky nod and replies, “Yes, Dominic?”

“I… need to talk to you about something.”

A lump forms in Hal’s throat, and he briefly closes his eyes. The other one chuckles in his head and says, _Oh dear, doesn’t that sound ominous._

He realises that he hasn’t actually replied to Dominic when the other once again asks, “Hal?”

“Yes,” he bites out, a little more forcefully than he intended. He takes a deep breath and tries again in a calmer voice, “Yes. Sorry, I…” he turns around to face Dominic then, and finds him looking at him with a furrowed brow. “What did you want to talk about?”

Dominic wrings his hands nervously, swallows a couple of times and says, “Not… like this. I think it’s probably better if we sit down.”

Hal’s eyes flick over to the doors, and Dominic follows his gaze for a moment before turning back around to him. “I asked them both to give us some time. They won’t be coming in.”

“All right,” Hal says finally, taking off his marigolds and sitting down at the kitchen table. 

_You stay out of this,_ he warns the other one, and gets only a long-suffering sigh in response. He watches Dominic walk over and sit down across from him, blue eyes looking at him intently as he opens his mouth, then closes it again, clearly unsure how to start.

“Listen, if this is about last night—” Hal says, but it seems that at that precise moment, Dominic finally finds his voice.

“It’s not,” he says firmly, then frowns slightly and adds, “Well, not exactly. It’s got something to do with… last night, but… I don’t know how to say this.” He shakes his head in frustration, eyes darting nervously around the room.

“You clearly seemed to have an idea of what you wanted to say when you came in,” Hal points out, and Dominic’s big blue eyes once again find his own.

“Yes. I…” He trails off, swallows, and says, “I was going to ask you something about… the other one.”

Hal frowns, even as he can feel the other one gloat inside his head. “What about him?”

Dominic sighs and says, “Obviously you have been living with this, with _him_ , for a very long time.”

“Yes,” Hal confirms, unsure where Dominic is going with this.

Dominic swallows again, takes a deep breath, looks straight into his eyes, and rushes out, “Have you ever… both… been in control? At the same time?”

Hal narrows his eyes as his brain tries to process what Dominic is asking him. “Do you mean…?”

“Please just answer my question, Hal,” Dominic says somewhat forcefully, his nerves clearly getting the better of him. 

A dark thought spreads around in Hal’s mind, and he tries his very best to ignore it as he says, “No. I’ve never done that, nor would I ever want to.”

“But it is possible? As far as you know?” Dominic asks, looking as determined as ever. Determined for what, Hal doesn’t really want to think about.

He sighs deeply and says, “Yes, I believe it would be possible, if both parties were in agreement.” Giving Dominic a significant look, he adds, “Unfortunately we never agree on anything, so that’s clearly out of the question.”

Dominic shakes his head sharply. “That’s not true.”

“What do you mean?” Hal asks, although he has a pretty good idea already.

“You do agree about one thing,” Dominic says, and Hal closes his eyes and shakes his head.

“No, Dominic, it’s not like that. He… he doesn’t really care about you, all he wants is…” he drifts off, unwilling to put his thoughts into words.

“To have sex with me?” Dominic finishes for him, and hearing the words from his mouth makes his stomach churn.

“Yes,” he gasps, still not opening his eyes. 

_You’re not going to win this, Hal,_ the other one says in his head, and he exhales sharply, trying to forcefully push the unwanted presence out of his mind, to no avail. 

“Hal,” Dominic says then, and against his better judgement, he opens his eyes, looks straight into the man’s bright blue ones, and in them he can see a strange mix of apprehension and anticipation. “Hal,” he says again, voice hoarse and breaking slightly on the single word. “How do you feel about a threesome?”

Hal’s eyes widen as Dominic’s words go around and around in his mind, and he desperately tries to make sense of them. As hard as he tries, he just can’t come up with a meaning that is actually worth entertaining the possibility of. All the while Dominic is looking at him expectantly, a slight crease in his brow the only sign of how nervous he is about his proposition.

 _I think it’s quite clear what he is asking you, Hal,_ the other one says. _Don’t pretend that you don’t understand, he knows as well as you and I that you know perfectly well what he wants from you._

“No,” Hal says finally, a deep frown forming on his face. “Jesus, Dominic, I… no. That is _never_ going to happen.”

“Hal, think about it—”

“No! I’m not going to… share you with him,” he spits out, grimacing at the mere thought of what Dominic is asking of him. A powerful surge of jealousy runs through him that flares up white hot at Dominic’s next words.

“What if I want you to, Hal?”

Hal gives him a sharp look. “You _want_ to have sex with him?”

Dominic looks straight into his eyes and gives him a tiny nod. “Yes, Hal. I do.”

Hal feels a sharp pain in his chest as he stares at the blond man across the table for one long, painful moment. Then, in a small, defeated voice, he says, “All right. If that’s what you want. I’ll just… step back and let him come out instead. Do whatever you want, just… please don’t make me be there.”

“No, Hal,” Dominic says immediately, with a vigorous shake of his head. “That’s not what I meant—”

“Well you can’t have it both ways!” Hal bellows, then exhales sharply through his nose before continuing in a quieter voice, “What I mean to say is, I can accept you wanting to sleep with him… I don’t like it, don’t get me wrong, but if it is what you really want then… so be it. But if you do, I don’t want to be there and watch, okay? I can’t… I… Is that really too much to ask?”

Dominic looks at him with those big, blue eyes, and Hal feels like he is about to throw up. Then the man starts talking in that calm, measured way of his, “Hal, I need you to be there—” 

“Did you not hear what I just—”

“—to keep the other one in check. To keep me safe. I don’t trust him to not… try anything,” he finishes, giving him a significant look. “And also,” he adds hesitantly after a moment, “I want you to be there because… I don’t want to do anything behind your back. I don’t want to feel like I’m cheating on you.”

Hal scoffs. “Perhaps you should have thought about that before you told me that you want to have sex with him.”

“ _And_ you,” Dominic points out, raising his eyebrows at him.

Hal shakes his head, letting out a small, humourless laugh. “You can’t be serious.”

Dominic swallows nervously once more. “I am serious, Hal. I’ve thought about this very carefully, and I think it would be best for everyone involved if we… came to some kind of understanding.”

“God, Dominic,” he says, still shaking his head at the man, “This is right up there with passing over into purgatory for the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard.”

There is a moment of silence in which Dominic gives him a calculating look, then he opens his mouth and asks, “What does he think?”

Hal looks at him in utter disbelief. “I don’t think that—”

“Hal,” Dominic interrupts him. “I would like to know what he thinks.”

 _Tell him I’m up for it,_ the other one pipes up, and Hal feels him forcing his eyes into giving Dominic an appreciative look. Dominic’s eyes widen and he blushes. _I never thought he was going to be so willing._

 _Be very careful,_ Hal replies, averting his gaze and closing his eyes. _One wrong step with him, and you’re never going to see daylight again._

 _And how are you going to do that?_ the other asks. _You know you can’t get rid of me. I’m going to be here to stay._

 _I know,_ Hal replies with a sigh. _But even you won’t be able to survive without the body._

He can feel the other one’s surprise shock run through him. _You wouldn’t dare._

 _Try me,_ Hal says grimly. Then he slowly becomes aware of Dominic’s voice calling his name.

“Hal? Come on, snap out of it. This is starting to freak me out.”

Training his eyes back on the blond man, he gives him an apologetic smile and says, “I’m sorry, got a bit carried away.”

Dominic frowns. “What did he say?”

Hal lets out a deep sigh. “He says he is up for it.”

“And what about you?” Dominic asks, looking deeply into his eyes, those blue depths so full of hope and anticipation.

There is nothing for it, he thinks. “I still think it’s one of the stupidest ideas I’ve ever heard,” he says. “But… yes. Okay. I’m in.”

The bright, dazzling smile that spreads across Dominic’s lips warms his insides, and he thinks for one brief, happy moment that it might actually be worth it.

***

Standing in the middle of their bedroom, still fully dressed in his shirt and suit trousers, Dominic starts to feel that this whole thing has been a very, very silly idea indeed. Hal is standing across from him, dressed in a grey polo shirt and dark blue jeans, back ramrod straight and eyes darting ceaselessly around the room, looking anywhere but at Dominic.

“So,” Dominic starts, and Hal’s eyes flick over in his direction for a fraction of a second before moving away again. “How are you going to do this? I mean, is there something you need to… I don’t know, do? To get him to come out… with you?”

He inwardly curses himself for being so inarticulate. But then again, up until the beginning of this year, he had not had a single sexual encounter in his life, and now he is about to have a… threesome? Can they even call it that? After all, there are still only going to be two bodies involved. The whole concept of what they are about to do feels completely bizarre to Dominic.

“I don’t know,” Hal says, eyes widening slightly at his admission. “I’ve never done this before. I guess I will have to… invite him to come out someh—” he stops abruptly, squeezes his eyes shut, and the next moment, when they open again, Dominic can tell immediately that a switch has taken place. Hal gives him a bright smile and says, “Well hello there.”

Dominic can’t help the blush that creeps into his cheeks as he stares at Hal – Hal? – for a long moment. “Hi,” he manages to choke out eventually, and Hal chuckles. 

“No need to go all shy on me now, Dominic,” he says, stepping closer and reaching out a hand to lightly touch his cheek, and Dominic feels his blush intensify. “Oh, god, I can see what he sees in you,” Hal says, and before Dominic can fully comprehend what is happening, he leans in closer, closer, until his lips capture Dominic’s in a bruising, open-mouthed kiss that takes his breath away and leaves him reeling, until—

“Wait,” he gasps out suddenly, pulling away slightly and looking at Hal with a furrow in his brow. Hal gives him a puzzled look, and Dominic swallows thickly and asks, “What should I call you?” 

Hal chuckles and smiles widely. “I think ‘my lord’ will do nicely.”

Dominic snorts and raises an eyebrow at him. “I don’t think so.”

Hal’s smile, if anything, widens even more. “Mmm, I do like a bit of fire,” he says, before leaning in again for another hungry kiss. That’s still not an answer to his question, Dominic thinks faintly, but the next moment he forgets what the question even was as he loses himself in that magnificent kiss. One of Hal’s hands comes up to start undoing the buttons on his shirt, and in contrast to the forceful nature of the kiss, the hand is careful, hesitant even, and Dominic frowns slightly as he quietly asks, “Hal?” against his mouth. 

“Yes?” Hal answers, pulling away slightly and allowing Dominic to catch his breath, and Dominic’s frown deepens at the change in the tone of his voice. One of Hal’s hands is still busy undoing his buttons, while the other one gently caresses the hairs at the nape of his neck. 

“This is… wow, this is really strange,” Dominic says with a small, embarrassed laugh. 

Hal looks at him with big eyes and says, “Strange doesn’t even come close.” Then, as if he is suddenly realising what he is doing, his hand on Dominic’s shirt comes to a halt, and he starts to slowly back away.

“Oh no, you don’t,” Dominic says, moving in quickly and pressing his lips back to Hal’s, both of his hands coming up to cup his face, and after a brief moment of hesitation, he can feel Hal kissing him back, slowly and gently at first, before his hands suddenly come back up to undo the last remaining buttons on Dominic’s shirt, and his lips move against Dominic’s with a newfound vigour that sends a shiver down his spine and makes a little moan escape his lips. “Welcome back,” he gasps against Hal’s mouth, and Hal grins into the kiss.

“Sorry about that,” Hal says between kisses, “I’m sure he’ll join in eventually. He just needs a little bit of persuading.”

Hal’s hands come up to push the shirt over Dominic’s shoulders, then his cool fingers run back down his naked chest, brushing against his nipples, and Dominic gasps. Dominic’s own hands push Hal’s polo shirt up, up and over his head, and he flings it to the floor to land next to his own discarded shirt. Then his lips are back on Hal’s, and he feels the other shiver under his touch as he runs his hands down his chest and his toned stomach, just as he can feel Hal’s cool touch at the small of his back.

“Hal,” he breathes against the other’s mouth. “You’re so beautiful.”

Hal’s hands still for a fraction of a second, and then they come back up to his face, thumbs gently caressing his cheekbones as he lets out a small, broken whimper against his lips. The kiss changes again, with Hal’s lips moving gently and deliberately against his own before moving away, peppering small kisses against his jaw, then his neck, and Dominic can feel arousal bubbling up inside of him as Hal’s lips ghost over the two shiny pink scars on his pulse point. 

Hal freezes again, and the next moment his eyes switch to black, and one of his hands forcefully grips the back of Dominic’s head, pulling it to one side to further expose his neck. Dominic’s eyes widen in fear as he realises what Hal is about to do.

“Hal,” he gasps out. “Come back, please.”

He has barely finished speaking before Hal stops in his tracks, and the hand at the back of his head loosens its grip and comes round to gently cup his face again. Hal pulls away a fraction, closing his eyes and taking a few deep breath before opening them again, once more golden hazel. 

“Sorry about him,” he whispers, fingers running down the side of his neck and along the silver chain to the small silver cross between his collarbones. “He has no manners.”

“Maybe not,” Dominic concedes, smiling, before he leans in again and places a soft kiss against Hal’s mouth. “But he is a damn good kisser.”

Hal raises an eyebrow at him. “Is that a challenge?” 

Dominic shrugs, giving him an innocent look. “It could be.”

Hal moves in again and brushes his lips against his own, and for a moment, Dominic actually isn’t sure which one of them is at the wheel at the moment, but then Hal says, “Challenge accepted,” and he kisses him again lips moving against lips for a long, blissful moment. One of Hal’s hands pushes against his chest then, forcing him to walk backwards until he feels the edge of the bed against the back of his legs. “Lie down,” Hal says, and wow, Dominic thinks, he didn’t even notice the switch this time, but this is definitely the other Hal talking again. The speed and frequency of the switches are making his head reel.

Letting himself fall backwards onto the bed, he doesn’t have to wait long for Hal to climb on top of him, and then Hal’s lips are back on his, sucking his bottom lip into his mouth before gently nibbling it, and Dominic whimpers. Hal’s hands are on his belt buckle, making quick work of it before moving on to the button and zip on his trousers. At the same time, Hal’s kiss has changed _again_ , and it feels like both of them are in charge of the body at the same time, one controlling the mouth, the inquisitive tongue probing in between his lips, and the other the hands, which are now pulling down his trousers and underwear in one swift movement, exposing his rock-hard cock.

“Mmm, Hal,” he moans into his open mouth. “Touch me, please.”

And touch him Hal does. His cool hand tightly wraps around his cock, and it feels so different from the way Hal would normally touch him, but at the same time absolutely exhilarating. His tongue battles with Hal’s inside his mouth in an endless fight for dominance, and he feels a powerful surge of arousal deep inside of him, making his cock twitch in Hal’s firm grip. Hal’s hand moves up and down his hard length at a dizzying pace, and Dominic gasps and quivers under his touch, feeling himself getting close. 

“Stop,” he gasps, and immediately, Hal’s hand freezes and he pulls away to give him a quizzical look. 

“Something wrong?” Hal asks.

“No,” he says quickly, shaking his head. “It was just… all a bit much, I think. It’s been a while.”

Hal’s expression changes, and he gives him another one of those wide smiles. “Believe me, it wouldn’t have been if I was in charge.” Then, right in front of Dominic’s eyes, he switches again, says, “Good thing you weren’t, or he would probably be dead by now,” quickly followed by an eye-roll, a snort, and a muttered, “Hardly.”

“Guys,” Dominic calls out, and Hal looks up at him, eyes wide in surprise at having been addressed in that way. Dominic sighs. “Can we all try and get along here, please?”

Hal swallows and nods. “Sorry.” He leans in, giving Dominic another quick kiss before asking, “So you’re ready for more?”

“Yes,” Dominic croaks out, and before he can say or do anything else, Hal has started kissing a wet trail down his neck, then his chest, and he pauses briefly to suck one erect nipple into his mouth, making Dominic gasp and whimper, before his mouth continues its journey south. He kisses his way across his stomach, tongue dipping into his belly button and making an electric current run straight into his groin, and finally, finally, he arrives at Dominic’s waiting erection, head hovering above and looking up at him with an intense look in his eyes. 

“Hal?” Dominic asks breathlessly.

“Tell me what you want, Dominic,” Hal says, voice deep and seductive, and Dominic moans.

“I want… I want your mouth,” he gasps out. 

“Want my mouth where, Dominic?”

“Hal,” he rasps, but this Hal, it seems, has no mercy.

“Want my mouth where, Dominic?” he repeats.

Taking a deep, shaky breath and closing his eyes, he says, “On my cock.”

Hal chuckles, and he lifts his head off the pillow and gives him a desperate look. After another moment that seems like an eternity to Dominic, Hal slowly shakes his head. “No,” he drawls. “Sorry, I don’t do that.”

“What?” Dominic gasps out, watching in disbelief as Hal sits up and away from him. “Haaal,” he whines, and the next moment, Hal freezes, changes, and moves back in again. Without saying another word, he swirls his tongue around the tip of Dominic’s cock before finally wrapping his soft, cool lips around him. 

“Ohh, thank god,” Dominic breathes, and the sight of Hal’s lips forming a smile while stretched around the tip of his cock must be one of the most beautiful and arousing things he has ever seen, Dominic decides. Then Hal moves his head down to slowly take more and more of him into his mouth, and Dominic moans loudly. Hal’s head bobs up and down his cock in practised movements, while one of his hands comes up to play with his balls, before his fingers move down along the sensitive skin between his bum cheeks and – oh – circle around his entrance, and Dominic quivers and whimpers and moans underneath him, slowly falling apart. 

“Hal… Hal, stop,” he says again, one hand reaching out and grabbing a fistful of Hal’s hair, pulling him away from his erection.

“Not good?” Hal asks, a crease forming on his brow. 

Dominic sighs. “Of course it was good. But I… don’t want to come yet. I want to wait for you.”

Hal freezes, then smiles at him. “Good boy.”

Dominic lets out a breathless laugh. “I live to please, my lord.”

Hal’s expression instantly changes into an ugly grimace. “Don’t call him that.”

Dominic rolls his eyes. “Lighten up, Hal, please. I thought we were all going to try and _get along_?”

Hal huffs. “Stroking his ego is not going to make him get along with anyone.”

“Mmm, you’re right,” Dominic muses, looking over at Hal and giving him an impish smile. “There are other parts of him that I’d much rather be stroking.” Hal groans, and Dominic brings a hand up to cup his face. “The good news is,” he says, pressing a soft kiss to Hal’s lips, “that you’re going to feel it, too.”

Hal pulls away from him giving him a sceptical look. “Dominic… I think maybe you shouldn’t—”

“Shush, Hal,” he cuts in, brushing his lips against Hal’s again while his hands wander down across his chest and his stomach to find the button and zip on his jeans, and just like Hal did to him, he yanks them down together with his underwear, and Hal’s erection springs free. Dominic slowly wraps his fingers around it, and Hal inhales sharply. “Yes,” Dominic says with a small smile, “this is definitely much better.”

Hal lets out a low, guttural groan as Dominic’s hand starts moving up and down his hard length, and Dominic leans back in to capture his lips in an open-mouthed kiss. Hal’s hands wander down Dominic’s back, and one of his fingers once again finds its way in between his buttocks to lightly circle his entrance, making him shiver. 

“Oh, Hal,” he breathes against Hal’s mouth, and he feels the air vibration of Hal chuckling against his lips.

“You like that?” Hal asks in that low, seductive voice, and Dominic feels a renewed surge of arousal in his gut when he realises that Hal has switched again. He doesn’t trust himself to speak, so he just gives a jerky nod.

“Turn around,” Hal commands, and Dominic’s hand stills on his cock and his brow furrows as he pulls away slightly to look at him. 

“Come again?”

“Turn around,” Hal repeats, then gives him a teasing smile. 

Dominic frowns slightly, but does as he is told, turning over onto his stomach before getting up on his hands and knees. He feels Hal moving on the bed behind him, and a hand comes up to lightly run down the full length of his spine, before meeting his other hand at the small of his back and swiftly moving in to part his bum cheeks, exposing his entrance. 

Dominic feels a shiver that is halfway between excitement and embarrassment at being so completely exposed, and he can feel Hal’s movement stop abruptly for a moment, before his hands ease off slightly, and Hal says, “Don’t worry, Dominic. It’s okay, I’m here. I won’t let him do anything that you feel uncomfortable with.”

Dominic gives a shaky nod. “Okay.”

Then Hal freezes again, and his hands move back in, hesitant at first as if he is fighting for control, then more firmly, once again parting his buttocks, and the next moment, Dominic can feel something that is decidedly not a hand nudge the sensitive skin above his entrance.

“Hal?” he asks, confused.

“Just relax, Dominic,” Hal says, and Dominic is startled to find his breath tickling the sensitive skin around his hole. Then he moves in and nudges him again, and Dominic finally realises that it’s Hal’s _nose_ he can feel, a fraction of a second before his senses go into overdrive as Hal’s wet tongue licks once, twice, around his puckered entrance, before slightly dipping in, and Dominic all but screams out. 

“Oh my god, Hal,” he gasps, as Hal’s tongue starts a slow rhythm in and out of him.

Hal pauses, chuckles, and the feeling against his over sensitised skin drives Dominic wild. His breaths are coming in fast, ragged gasps, and his whole body shudders at the sensation. “Like that, do you?”

“Yes,” Dominic chokes out. “My god. So you refuse to give me a blow job, and then you go and do… that?”

“It’s all in preparation for something even better,” Hal explains, almost conversationally, and Dominic whimpers, stretching himself out to be touched again. Hal chuckles and gives him another quick lick before continuing, “I’m a very goal-oriented person, you understand? And my goal right now is to fuck you, so I have to get you nice and ready for it first.”

Hal’s words cause a violent surge of arousal inside Dominic, and all he manages is another broken whimper in reply as Hal’s tongue gets back to work, in and out and swirling around his entrance before repeating it all over again. Then he moves away, and Dominic feels a cold shiver at the loss of contact. 

“Hal?” he asks breathlessly.

“Shh, I’m not going anywhere,” Hal says, his calm, gentle voice back. “Just getting something from the bedside drawer.” A moment later he is back, and out of the corner of his eye, Dominic can see him squirting some lube onto his fingers before spreading it around his entrance and slowly inserting a finger into his tight hole. Dominic gasps involuntarily, and Hal stops, concern heavy in his voice when he asks, “Do you want me to stop?”

Dominic quickly shakes his head. “No… no, don’t stop, please,” he gasps, and Hal starts moving his finger again, slowly in and out, before carefully adding a second one, stretching him out. He continues for a long time, and Dominic starts to feel impatient, wanting him to move on to what he knows is going to come next. “Hal…” he breathes. “Get a move on, please.”

The switch is once again immediate, and Hal asks, “What do you want, Dominic?”

“I want…” he trails off, takes a ragged breath, tries again, “I want…”

“I can’t do it if you don’t tell me,” Hal says, a teasing quality in his voice.

“I want…” A deep, broken moan escapes him before he finally rushes out, “I want you inside of me.” Hal doesn’t respond at all, and Dominic chances a look around, to find him looking at him with an expectant expression on his face. “I want you inside of me… please?” he tries, and Hal smiles.

“Oh, I like it when you beg for me,” he says, then picks up the lube and smothers a generous amount of it over his erection before positioning himself behind Dominic. 

“No, wait, I—” But Dominic never gets to finish the sentence, as the next moment, Hal breaches his quivering entrance with the tip of his cock, and Dominic lets out a loud, broken moan.

“I thought that’s what you just asked me to do,” Hal asks, slowly easing himself into Dominic.

Dominic’s breath catches in his throat at the sudden, almost uncomfortable feeling of fullness, and he does his very best to relax, to allow Hal in. “Yes,” he chokes out, “but I wanted…” another gasp escapes him as Hal moves in further, burying himself to the hilt, “to be able to see you,” he finishes weakly.

Hal’s mouth comes down on his right shoulder blade, pressing a soft kiss to his skin, and somehow he knows that it’s _his_ Hal doing that, even while the other one is still in control of the lower part of his body, hands holding on tightly to his hips as he slowly pulls out before burying himself inside again, building up a rhythm. A groan escapes Hal’s lips at the sensation, and he rests his forehead against Dominic’s upper back and whispers, “This is bizarre,” against his skin.

“Is it really both of you in there?” Dominic asks, and he can feel Hal nod against his back.

“Yes. It’s… I’ve never experienced something like this before.”

Hal’s thrusts are getting faster and harder, and Dominic whimpers and moans with each one, his cock twitching helplessly underneath him.

“Hal,” he says brokenly. “Touch me, please.” 

“On it,” Hal gasps, and at once, he can feel one of Hal’s hands loosening its grip on his hip and slowly moving around to wrap around his hard length, picking up the same rhythm as Hal’s thrusts inside of him.

“Oh, god, Hal,” Dominic gasps, as Hal starts peppering soft kisses along his spine. “I love you.”

Hal’s hand stops moving abruptly on his cock, and the rest of him follows as he goes completely still for a moment, cock still buried deep inside of him. Dominic turns his head around to see Hal with his eyes tightly shut and a frown on his face, and he lets out a deep, ragged sigh.

“Guys, if you’ve got something to say, say it in front of me please.”

Hal’s eyes snap open, and he swallows thickly as he looks at Dominic. “I told him that I wanted to take over… for a bit… before we…” he pauses, frowns at the unfamiliar new pronoun, “before we come.”

Dominic nods. “I’d like that.”

“He didn’t agree,” Hal says with a sigh and a roll of his eyes. 

“Hal,” Dominic says sternly, addressing the other one, “play nicely please, or you won’t get another go.”

Hal chuckles. “Mmm, Dominic, you’re cute when you take control.”

“I mean it,” Dominic says, and slowly, hesitantly he can feel Hal pull out of him.

“Turn around,” he says, but it’s a polite request this time, not a command, and Dominic rolls over onto his back. Almost immediately, Hal’s lips are on his in a passionate kiss, and Hal’s arms pull his legs up and apart before positioning himself once more at his entrance and slowly pushing in. 

Even the way enters him feels different, Dominic thinks, even though it’s the exact same body doing the movements. Hal’s hand wraps around his cock again, and he recognises the other one’s almost painfully tight grip, thumb spreading the copious pre-come around the head before he starts to rhythmically move up and down his shaft in sync with Hal’s thrusts. 

At one point, Hal’s lips move downwards from his mouth, and slowly wander down the side of his neck, nose nudging against his pulse point before he places a gentle kiss against his scars, and Dominic can’t fight the pleasant tingle that runs through his body at the sensation, is too far gone to tell him to stop. But whichever one of them is doing it – Dominic must admit that he has lost track at this point – the other one seems to be on the case, as the next moment Hal freezes up and jerks his head away from his neck, bringing it down to lie against Dominic’s chest instead, all the while never ceasing his rhythmic thrusts.

Once he is sure that the fangs have retracted, Hal moves his head back up to claim Dominic’s mouth in a hungry kiss, and Dominic is almost overwhelmed once more by the combined sensation of Hal’s cock, hands and lips on him. It doesn’t take long for him to reach the point of no return, and he lets out a high-pitched whimper and gasps, “Hal, I’m going to come.”

Hal nods, says, “Come for me, my Dominic,” and he lets go, spurts of come shooting over Hal’s hand and both their stomachs, and he feels himself clench and tighten around Hal’s cock, making him gasp. Only a few short moments later, Hal gives an almighty shiver and chokes out a broken, “I love you,” against Dominic’s lips before releasing his load deep inside of him.

Hal collapses on top of him then, breathing heavily, head buried in the crook of his neck, and Dominic doesn’t have the energy to move him away, but somehow _knows_ that Hal is not going to hurt him. Not now, not in this moment. Not after what they have just shared. 

His frantic heartbeat gradually slows to a healthier level as he basks in the afterglow of a frankly magnificent orgasm, and one of his hands comes up to draw lazy circles on Hal’s back, while the other plays with the hair on the back of Hal’s head. 

“Thank you both,” he says quietly after a moment.

Hal chuckles softly for a moment, then abruptly stops, and says, “You’re welcome, Blondie.”

 _This is seriously weird,_ Dominic thinks fondly, a smile on his lips, as he settles down, holds Hal closely against him, and feels himself drift off to sleep.


	24. Side Effects

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so, so much for reading! 
> 
> So somehow this turned into a bit of a hurt/comfort chapter. Switching headaches actually are a thing, particularly as a result of rapid switching.
> 
> (Note to letterstospace - the headache reference in your comment made me laugh, as I had already started writing this at that point!)
> 
> Oh and happy St Patrick's Day!

Wakey wakey  
Rise and shine  
It's on again off again on again  
Watch me fall  
Like dominoes  
In pretty patterns

\- Radiohead, “Faust Arp”

Hal wakes to a heavy weight pressing down on his chest, and a fierce, pounding headache. His eyes flutter open, but the bright sunlight shining in through the window sends a new wave of pain into his skull, and he winces and squeezes his eyes shut, one hand coming up to massage his throbbing temples.

The weight on his chest shifts, then lifts up, and a moment later Dominic’s voice drills into his aching head, “Hal? You okay?”

“Mmmh,” Hal manages, before breaking into another wince and increasing his fingers’ pressure on his temples. Not that it seems to do anything to help.

“Hal, what’s wrong?” Dominic asks urgently, and Hal grimaces, fighting the urge to stick his fingers in his ears to block out the unwelcome noise.

“Headache,” he grinds out, and immediately he can feel Dominic shift and sit up, slightly away from him. One hand reaches out and lightly caresses his bicep.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Dominic says, in a quieter voice. “I didn’t realise you could get headaches.”

“Neither did I,” Hal replies. “Haven’t felt like this for about five hundred years.”

He can feel Dominic’s eyes boring into him as the other man sits on the bed next to him, obviously deeply in thought. After a long silence, Dominic says, “You don’t think this is anything to do with… last night, do you?”

Hal can’t help but let out a humourless laugh, then immediately regrets it as the pounding in his head flares up to unprecedented levels. “I think that’s exactly what it is, Dominic.” He pauses for a moment, lifts his hand away from his temples and once again tries to open his eyes. He can just about make out Dominic’s form, sitting with his knees drawn up and giving him a concerned look. “I told you it was a stupid idea.”

Dominic inhales sharply. “If… if that’s what… I’m so sorry, Hal, I would never have suggested it. I didn’t know…” he drifts off, hand once again reaching out, rubbing up and down Hal’s calf this time.

Hal sighs and closes his eyes again. “Don’t worry, Dominic. I didn’t either. Never done that before, remember?” Then he rolls over onto his side, away from Dominic, and buries his face in his pillow.

Dominic clears his throat. “Would you… like me to leave you alone? Or can I get you anything?” He pauses, thinks for a moment, and adds, “Can you take paracetamol?”

Hal chuckles, but finds that it only serves to aggravate his headache. Wincing, he says, “I haven’t got a clue. Never had to.” His voice goes very quiet when he adds, “There is one thing that would probably help.”

Dominic goes quiet for a long moment, and Hal inwardly kicks himself for his big mouth. 

_What’s wrong with being honest?_ the other one scoffs. _We both know paracetamol is not going to help this._

“You know I’m happy to give it to you, if that’s really what you want, Hal,” Dominic speaks up then, and Hal feels a temporary relief from his headache as a strong surge of hunger runs through his body. His senses are suddenly attacked by the human’s enticing smell, and he painfully clenches his teeth together and buries his head even deeper into his pillow, fighting the urge to jump up and rip into Dominic’s smooth, pale skin.

He forcefully shakes his head and says, “No. That’s not what I want. It’s what he wants, but I think he’s had quite enough of his wishes fulfilled for a good long while.”

“But Hal, if it would help—”

“No, Dominic,” he says forcefully, then groans loudly as his headache returns in full force. “Thank you for the offer. I think I’ll give the paracetamol a go.”

He can hear the frown in Dominic’s voice as the other says, “If you’re sure.”

Hal gives a small nod into his pillow. “Yes. Thank you. I’m sure.”

With a sigh, Dominic shuffles over to the edge of the bed, and it is only because of Hal’s hypersensitive hearing that he manages to pick up the minute hitch in Dominic’s breath as he stands up and walks over to the wardrobe. He can feel the other one gloat inside his head, and lets out an angry huff.

_Jesus, come on, Hal. It’s not like you didn’t have your fun last night as well._

Choosing not to reply, Hal instead rolls back over onto his back, lifting his head and opening his eyes slightly to watch Dominic as he gets a change of clothes out of the wardrobe and silently dresses himself before making his way over to the door. With one hand on the door handle, he turns back around to Hal and gives him a sympathetic smile.

“I’ll be back in with your painkillers in a moment.”

“Thanks,” Hal replies, trying to return the smile, but it ends up as more of a grimace.

“I’m sorry, Hal,” Dominic says then, hovering in the open door.

Hal sighs. “Really, don’t be. I’ll be all right soon.”

Dominic throws him another small smile, then steps out into the hallway and shuts the door behind him, and Hal can hear his footsteps pad across the hallway and into the bathroom. He rolls over onto his side, grabs Dominic’s pillow and pulls it over his head to block out the sunlight that even penetrates through his closed eyelids. 

The other one is unusually quiet and subdued in his head this morning, and Hal feels a grim sense of satisfaction at the fact that he is suffering just as much from the body’s current state as he is. 

_Serves you right for encouraging that ridiculous idea of his_ , he thinks, and the other one scoffs.

 _You really are a sore loser, aren’t you,_ he replies. 

Hal frowns. _What did I lose?_ he asks, but his answer is only silence.

***

Alex’s head snaps up from her phone screen as the door opens and Dominic ambles in, walks straight over to the pantry and rummages around in one of the cupboards without so much as acknowledging her presence. 

“I know it was here somewhere,” he mutters to himself, throwing open another cupboard, and Alex frowns at him before getting to her feet and walking over to stand next to him. 

“Anything I can help you with?” she asks, and Dominic nearly jumps out of his skin.

“Alex!” he exclaims. “Please don’t sneak up on me like that, you know I can’t see you.”

“Yes, but aren’t you supposedly able to sense me?” 

He lets out a shaky sigh. “Not if my mind is otherwise occupied.”

“Right,” she says with a nod and a smile that she knows he can’t see. “What are you looking for anyway?”

“Painkillers,” he says distractedly, eyes once again fixed on the cupboard in front of him. His eyes finally fall on the small box of medications next to the first aid kit on the top shelf, and he lets out a relieved sigh. “There they are.”

He grabs the paracetamol out of the box and quickly makes his way over to the sink, filling a small glass with water. 

“See you in a minute,” he calls towards Alex, and disappears once again through the door before she has the chance to get another word in. She frowns after him for a long moment. What the hell is going on? If Dominic needed a painkiller, why didn’t he just take it here? With a shrug and a shake of her head, she sits back down at the table and picks up her phone to reopen her game of Candy Crush. 

After what feels like no time at all, the door opens once more, and Dominic walks in, slower this time. His eyes drift over to her, giving her a small, apologetic smile.

“Sorry about that,” he says, putting the kettle on and dropping a teabag into a mug before putting some bread into the toaster. Then he turns back around to her, a crease in his brow. “Hal... isn’t feeling very well. I just wanted to get those painkillers to him as soon as I could.”

Alex frowns. “What’s wrong with him?”

Dominic looks thoughtful for a moment, then gives her a significant look and says, “Switching headache.”

“What?” Alex asks, nonplussed. 

Dominic just shakes his head and says, “Never mind.” He turns back to the counter as the kettle boils, and pours the hot water onto his teabag, then butters his toast. He gives Alex another small smile, carries the plate and mug over to the table and takes a seat across from her, then winces almost imperceptibly and shifts in his seat to find a more comfortable position. Alex’s eyes widen, and she smiles.

“So,” she says nonchalantly. “Did you guys have fun last night?”

Almost immediately, Dominic goes beetroot red and pointedly looks down at his toast. “Yes,” he says quietly.

“Oh, come on, Blondie,” Alex says. “Tell me _something_. How was it?”

His eyes flick up to her then, big and piercing right into her, and a slow grin spreads on his face. “They were very attentive.”

Alex’s eyes widen once more. “They?”

Dominic nods. “They.”

“So the plan worked?” Alex asks faintly, staring at Dominic in disbelief.

Dominic nods once more and lifts his tea to his lips, taking a sip. “Yes, it did.”

“Wow, Dominic, that’s… I don’t know whether to be freaked out or in awe, but… shit.”

He lets out a small laugh. “Believe me, that’s how I felt half the time as well. And no, I won’t be giving you any more details,” he adds, raising his eyebrows at her.

“Fine,” she says with a slight huff, and he laughs again, then shifts once more in his seat as inconspicuously as possible. “As long as you guys had a good time,” she adds, and he blushes again. Then another thought occurs to Alex, and she sobers up slightly, narrowing her eyes at him. “And he didn’t bite you?”

“No, of course not,” Dominic says instantly, shaking his head. Looking straight at her, he pulls the collar of his t-shirt away from his neck, exposing the two shiny, light pink scars there.

Alex swallows painfully as she takes in the scars. This is not something she thinks she will ever fully get her head around. Clearing her throat, she says, “That’s not the only place he could’ve bitten you, Dominic.”

He wordlessly holds out both of his wrist to her, then lifts his eyebrows and says, “I’m not going to show my femorals to you.”

Just at that moment, Tom walks through the door, a small frown on his face. “Do I wanna know what yer talkin’ about?” 

Alex barks out a laugh, watching a fresh influx of blood into Dominic’s cheeks. “I don’t think so, Tom,” she says.

Tom walks over to the counter, pouring himself a bowl of cereal and flicking on the kettle before turning around and taking a spoonful of Cheerios while leaning back against the counter. He throws Dominic a thoughtful look and says, “You an’ Hal seem to be gettin’ along better.”

Dominic’s eyes widen comically. “Did you… hear…?” he chokes out, and Tom nods, looking back at him intently.

“‘Course I did. Walls ain’t exactly thick in this place, innit.”

“I’m so sorry,” Dominic says, looking absolutely mortified. Alex could almost feel sorry for him, if it wasn’t so funny.

“Don’t worry ‘bout it,” Tom says, shrugging. “Weren’t the first time. I’m just glad you’re doin’ better.”

“Thanks,” Dominic croaks and focusses his attention back on his toast. 

Tom turns back around to the counter to finish making his tea, and his eyes dart around the kitchen as he walks over and sits down at the table between Dominic and Alex. “Where’s Hal, anyway?”

“He’s still in bed,” Dominic says, and Tom looks at him with furrowed brows.

“It’s quarter past ten.”

“He’s not well,” Dominic explains. Alex narrows her eyes at him.

“How can Hal even get a headache?” she asks, finally voicing the question she didn’t get to ask earlier. “He’s a vampire.”

Dominic shakes his head in her direction. “I don’t know, Alex. I can only tell you what he told me.” 

“Hold on,” Tom chimes in. “Last time someone talked ‘bout Hal havin’ a migraine, that was because…” he drifts off and gives Dominic and Alex a significant look.

“No, that’s not it,” Dominic says quickly. “This is an actual headache.”

“You better be right,” Tom grumbles.

Dominic nods. “I am.” Then he puts the last bite of toast in his mouth and gets up from his chair. “I should probably check on him, see if the painkillers are working.”

“Yeah, good idea,” Alex agrees, and he gives her a small smile before he turns and leaves the room in quick strides.

“Is there somethin’ I’m missin’ here?” Tom asks, eyebrows drawn together as he looks from the door back towards Alex.

“Nope. Nothing,” Alex says, deciding that it’s probably not a good idea to reveal the exact nature of Hal and Dominic’s encounter to him. 

Tom doesn’t look convinced, but seems to decide to let it go. “I’m helpin’ Natasha move into Dominic’s flat today,” he says, then lets out a deep sigh. Alex frowns.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” she asks. “Means she’s finally getting out of hospital, right?”

“Yeah,” he says glumly.

Alex’s frown deepens. “Tom, what’s going on?”

“It’s…” he drifts off, then looks up at Alex and starts again, “It’s Tasha. She told me… the reason she didn’t get out of hospital sooner weren’t nowt to do with the blood loss. It was… because they were tryin’ to get her into a treatment programme… for drug addiction.”

Alex sighs. “Oh, Tom, I’m so sorry.”

He throws her an accusing look. “Did ya know?”

“No,” she says quickly, shaking her head. “Honestly, Tom, I didn’t. I… kinda had my suspicions, but—”

“Ya never told me nowt!” he snaps, and she looks down.

“Because I didn’t know!” she throws back. “I’ve never even _spoken_ to Natasha, Tom. All I meant was that back when I met her in Dominic’s flat in London, she seemed… odd. Different. Like there was something not right.” She pauses, then asks, “What drug is it?”

“Cocaine,” Tom says darkly. “She says she started it when a friend introduced her to it, but she really wants to stop.”

“That’s good,” Alex says encouragingly. “The best thing you can do is be there for her and help her through it.”

“I know,” he says with a sigh. “I just… I’ve got no idea how to help her.”

“You managed to help Hal,” she points out, and he frowns at her.

“That ain’t the same thing.”

She raises her eyebrows at him. “It’s similar enough.”

Tom looks at her for a long moment, a crease in his brow. “I guess,” he says eventually. “Maybe it is.”

***

Dominic carefully pushes the door open and enters the darkened room, eyes falling immediately on the still form of Hal on the bed, lying face down with the sheets pooling around his waist and his head buried under Dominic’s pillow. A small, fond smile on his lips, he quietly walks over to the bed and sinks down onto the mattress, hand reaching out to lightly rub up and down Hal’s naked back. A muffled groan from underneath the pillow is all the reply he gets from Hal at first, and he just sits there, fingers running up and down Hal’s spine, for several minutes.

Then, he can feel Hal shift very slightly, turning his head to the side to better be able to speak. “’S nice,” Hal mumbles, and Dominic’s smile grows. 

“I’m glad,” he says, keeping his fingers moving on Hal’s back. “How are you feeling?”

“Like my brain is at least five sizes too big for my skull?” Hal replies in a voice that is barely more than a whisper.

Dominic sighs. “Painkillers didn’t work?”

“No,” Hal says. “Didn’t think they would.”

Dominic hesitates briefly, clears his throat, then says, “Hal, if you want—”

“I told you,” Hal mumbles. “Don’t want that. ’S him.”

“Then let me speak to him,” Dominic says with a frustrated sigh.

Hal removes the pillow from his head and slowly sits up, giving Dominic a serious look. “I said no, Dominic. If you give him blood, I’m still going to feel the effects of it, do you understand? I don’t want to go through all of that again.”

“I understand that, Hal,” Dominic says, “but it would only be a one-off. To make you feel better. Surely that can’t be such a big problem?”

Hal scoffs. “You really have no idea, do you?”

“Well, no,” Dominic barks, losing his patience. “How the hell could I, Hal? I’m not a vampire, I don’t know what it’s like.” 

The next moment, he thoroughly regrets his outburst, as Hal winces and squeezes his eyes shut in pain at the sudden loud noise. “No,” Hal says quietly. “You clearly don’t.”

“I’m sorry, Hal,” Dominic replies, but doesn’t get to say anything more as at that moment, another loud noise cuts into his words, and he quickly pulls his phone out of his pocket. Frowning at the screen that says _No Caller ID_ , he quickly presses the call button and lifts the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

“Dominic,” a male voice says on the other end. Dominic frowns. The voice, tinny and distorted as it is through the phone speaker, does sound somewhat familiar, but he isn’t quite able to place it.

“Who is this?” he asks, looking up to find Hal throwing him a questioning look. He gives a small shrug and shake of his head.

“You know who I am, Dominic,” the voice answers, and a cold shiver runs down Dominic’s spine. He knows that voice. Knows it very well. He knows he knows it, but still he can’t place it.

“I’m sorry,” he says, voice hoarse as it fights its way past the sudden lump in his throat. “I think you’ve got the wrong number.”

There is a harsh laugh on the other end. “Pretend all you want, boy,” the voice says. “But you can’t escape what is coming for you. And with good reason, too, from what I can gather.”

“I’m sorry,” Dominic says again, “but I’m afraid I don’t know what you are talking about.” He feels something warm and wet run down from his nostrils and into his open mouth as he speaks, and he can taste copper on his tongue. 

“Come back, Dominic, or we will make you,” the voice says, before the line goes dead. Dominic drops the phone into his lap with a shaky sigh and looks back up at Hal, who is staring at him with wild, hungry eyes. 

“Hal?” he asks, confused, just as Hal reaches out a hesitant, trembling hand and gently touches Dominic’s top lip, and then reality comes crashing back to him as Hal lifts his hand back up to his own mouth, almost in slow motion, fingertips bright red with Dominic’s blood. “Hal, no!” Dominic calls out, but it’s already too late, and all he can do is watch with wide eyes as Hal sucks the fingers into his mouth, eyes slipping closed and a quiet moan escaping his lips.

Hal sits there, with his eyes shut and a blissful expression on his face, for a long moment, before his eyes suddenly fly open and give Dominic a fierce, intense look. Then he leans in and firmly presses his lips to Dominic’s, tongue slipping out almost immediately to lap up the warm blood that is pooling on his upper lip. 

“Hal,” Dominic tries to say into the kiss, but Hal doesn’t give him a chance to continue as he probes his lips apart with his tongue and starts exploring inside his mouth, licking away every stray drop of blood on his own tongue. 

Against his better judgement, Dominic finds himself kissing him back, a small moan bubbling up from his throat as he feels Hal’s tongue battling with his own before licking around the inside of his mouth again. When there is no more blood to be found there, Hal withdraws, sucks Dominic’s top lip into his mouth instead, lapping up the steady trickle of liquid that still falls from Dominic’s nostrils. 

“Hal,” he tries again, the rational part of him realising that what they are doing is wrong, that he cannot allow Hal to continue. “Hal, stop,” he says, more urgently, hands coming up to push against Hal’s chest, to push him away from him, but Hal’s hands reach up to hold his head firmly in place, and a deep moan escapes Hal’s lips as he continues his strange combination of kissing and feeding. All the while Dominic can slowly feel his resolve slipping away, until he once again finds himself returning the kiss, relishing the faint but oh so familiar taste of copper on his tongue as Hal’s soft lips continue moving against his own, and Hal’s wet tongue licks across Dominic’s sensitive skin.

“Do you still want me to stop?” Hal asks, voice deep and sensual, and Dominic feels a flare of arousal rising up at the pit of his stomach.

“No,” he breathes against Hal’s mouth, hands wandering up Hal’s chest and around to tangle in the soft hair at the back of his head. Hal moves in closer then, toppling both of them over on the bed, and Dominic feels the back of his head hit the mattress as he pulls Hal down on top of him, reconnecting their lips in another fiery kiss. 

“Oh, Dominic,” Hal whispers against his mouth. “God, you taste so good.”

And suddenly, for the second time in only a few minutes, reality comes crashing back to Dominic, and his eyes widen in horror as he realises what they are doing. Moving his hands back around to Hal’s chest, he forcefully pushes him off of him and quickly sits up, bringing some distance between them.

Hal, it seems, is also finally catching up with what has been happening, and he swallows thickly as he stares back at Dominic with a mixture of hunger and naked fear in his eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” Dominic croaks out. “I shouldn’t have allowed you to—”

“No,” Hal says, squeezing his eyes shut. “I’m sorry. I should’ve controlled myself, I… fuck, Dominic, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologise to _me_ ,” Dominic says, brow furrowing. “Are _you_ going to be okay?”

Hal takes a deep breath, gives him a small nod and says, “Yes. I… hope so. It wasn’t very much. Hopefully I’ll be able to just sleep it off and… I’ll be fine tomorrow.” His eyes open and meet Dominic’s across the bed, full of need and longing and regret. “Please, could you go and get yourself cleaned up? I… it’s still…” He lifts a wildly trembling hand and gestures vaguely towards Dominic’s nose.

Dominic blushes and nods, one hand coming up reflexively towards his nose and wiping the blood away. “Of course,” he says and gets up off the bed, and he can feel Hal’s eyes following him as he makes his way across the room and out the door. 

He quickly slips into the bathroom and locks the door behind him before he takes a few deep, shaky breaths to calm his pounding heart. Taking a good look at himself in the mirror above the sink, he frowns at the sight of yet another nosebleed. This is really becoming a nuisance now, he thinks as he turns on the tap and waits for the water to warm up. The bleed has all but stopped now, and Dominic is careful to wash every last trace of blood off of his skin, before he quickly dries his face and gives himself another once-over in the mirror. He knows he can’t risk Hal coming into contact with even the faintest trace of blood, not after what just happened.

Once he satisfied that his face and hands are completely clean, he quickly makes his way back into the bedroom, where he finds Hal sprawled out in the middle of the bed, eyes closed and a small smile playing on his lips. Dominic slowly walks towards the bed, and at his approach, Hal’s eyes open and he lifts his head off the pillow to give him a glassy, unfocussed look. 

“Dominic,” he says, the smile on his lips widening. “You’re back.”

“I am,” Dominic says, standing in front of the bed and giving Hal an apprehensive look. “Although I’m not sure if I should be.”

Hal’s brow furrows. “What do you mean?” He shifts slightly on the bed to create a little bit more space and looks expectantly between Dominic and the bed. “Why don’t you lie down?”

“I… don’t think that would be a good idea, Hal,” Dominic says, swallowing. “You’re drunk.”

Hal chuckles. “I know.”

“So it’s probably best if I just leave you to it, to, I don’t know, sleep it off, like you said.”

Hal sits up further, and his expression changes into what Dominic can only describe as a pout. “But where’s the fun in that?”

 _God, please give me strength,_ Dominic thinks faintly as he averts his eyes from Hal’s inviting look and clears his throat. “No, Hal. I’m sorry, I should go. I’ll check on you a little bit later.”

Without waiting for a response, he turns on his heels and leaves the room, once again making his way downstairs, where he can still sense Alex’s presence at the kitchen table. Tom, however, is nowhere to be found. 

“How is he?” Alex asks as Dominic sits down across from her. “You were gone for a while.”

“Yes,” he says, fighting back the blush that is threatening to rise into his cheeks. “He’s… not feeling much better. It’s probably best if he stays in bed for a while.”

“Uh, bummer,” Alex says, and Dominic lifts his eyes towards her to give her a small, sad smile.

“That’s one word for it.”

“So I guess you won’t be doing that again any time soon,” Alex says, and it takes Dominic a moment to understand what she means.

“No,” he says eventually, shaking his head. “It looks like all the rapid switching really did a number on his brain.”

“Just as long as he’ll be okay,” Alex says then, and Dominic’s stomach knots uncomfortably, thinking about the extra complication they just added to the problem.

“I hope so,” Dominic echoes Hal’s words from a few minutes ago. “He probably just needs some rest, and he’ll be fine tomorrow.”

***

Hal wakes with a start as he feels warm fingers carding through his wet hair. He is immediately hyperaware of a cold breeze of air against his sweat-drenched skin, and his body shakes uncontrollably against the mattress.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up,” a voice says above him, and Hal opens his eyes to take in a blurred image of Dominic, who is sitting on the bed next to him, one hand idly stroking through his messy mop of hair. 

“Ugh,” Hal responds, then takes a breath and tries again, “Hey.”

“Hey yourself,” Dominic replies, a smile in his voice. “How are you feeling?”

Hal huffs, trying and failing to fight against the tremors that have taken control of his body. “What does it look like?”

“I’m sorry,” Dominic says, hand moving down to cup his cheek. “Is there anything I can…” he trails off as he realises the irony of that question, and Hal gives him a grim smile.

“Yeah, not so much.” Gulping in another deep breath, he asks, “How long was I out?”

“Most of the day,” Dominic replies. “It’s about half past ten in the evening.” He pauses, hand going back to stroking Hal’s hair. Hal lets out a small, content hum at his ministrations. “How’s your head?” Dominic asks.

“Better,” Hal says, the tiniest smile playing on his lips. “Small mercies, huh.”

“Indeed,” Dominic agrees, smiling back at him.

They sit in silence for a while, Dominic’s hand never leaving Hal’s head, and Hal does his best to get his frayed, disorganised thoughts in order. His brow furrows as he thinks back to the reason for his current predicament. “What was that all about, anyway?” he asks, and Dominic frowns at him.

“What do you mean?” 

Hal clears his throat. “The… nosebleed?”

“Oh, that,” Dominic says, clearly trying very hard to sound nonchalant. “It was nothing. Just a nosebleed. They happen sometimes, you know.”

Hal’s frown deepens. “Are you sure?”

Dominic plasters on one of those fake smiles that he must know don’t actually fool anyone and says, “Yes. Absolutely sure.”

 _Why are you lying to me?_ Hal thinks as he gives him a long, hard look and says, “That’s funny, because I remember Alex mentioning a nosebleed just after you passed over into purgatory.”

Dominic’s eyes widen, and his hand stops moving in Hal’s hair. “She told you about that?”

“Yes,” Hal bites out. “She did. Which is more than can be said about you.” He pauses, then heaves himself up into a sitting position and looks straight into Dominic’s big blue eyes. “What’s going on, Dominic? What aren’t you telling me?”

Dominic lets out a deep sigh, averts his eyes and says, “It started when Hatch opened the Door for me. That was the first one. Since then…” he drifts off, glances back at Hal, eyes full of guilt and fear. “Since then, I’ve had another… three, this one included.”

Hal feels a surge of anger run through him. “And you didn’t think they were important enough to tell me about them,” he says, voice harsh and accusing.

“Well, excuse me, Hal,” Dominic snaps, “but I didn’t think that mentioning anything to do with blood to you would’ve been a very good idea.”

“So you just waited for one of them to happen right in front of me, so I didn’t have any warning before I got completely overwhelmed by the blood gushing from your nose.”

Dominic huffs. “It was hardly gushing.”

“That is hardly the point, Dominic!” Hal all but shouts, then shudders as a particularly violent tremor runs through his body, and he takes a deep, calming breath before continuing, “What I mean to say is, you really should have mentioned these to me. I… I have no idea what Hatch did to you, but this… isn’t good.” He trains serious eyes on Dominic. “Is there anything else? Anything you’ve noticed?”

“No,” Dominic says too quickly. “Nothing else.”

“Dominic,” Hal says quietly, reaching out a shaking, sweaty hand to take hold of Dominic’s, which has fallen away from his head and is now lying on the bed between them. Dominic’s eyes dart down to their joint hands before coming back up to his own. “Please tell me the truth. What was that phone call about?”

Dominic takes a deep breath and says, “I don’t know.” Hal lifts his eyebrows at him, prompting him to continue, and he adds, “I don’t know who it was that called me. I thought I recognised the voice but… I’m not sure. Maybe they just got the wrong number.”

“What did they say?” 

Dominic sighs and looks down. “I don’t… I’m tired,” he says, then lies down on the bed and tugs on Hal’s hand until he lies down next to him, hands still intertwined on the mattress between them. “Can we maybe just go to sleep? I’ll have an early start at work tomorrow, and you look like you could do with some more rest.”

Hal gives a small huff. “It feels like all I do nowadays is sleep.”

“You’ll be all right soon,” Dominic says, his free hand coming up to cup Hal’s cheek again, and Hal has to fight down a sudden, almost overwhelming urge to tip his head to the side just so to allow him to sink his teeth into that soft, inviting skin. He shudders and rolls away from Dominic, and he feels the man’s warm body move in immediately to spoon against him, one arm slung across Hal’s waist. 

Hal squeezes his eyes shut and clenches his teeth together to stop his fangs from descending, holding his breath to not be tempted by the smell of Dominic’s blood so close to him. After several long, agonising minutes, the urge slowly lessens and subsides, and oddly he can feel the other one’s presence particularly strongly in his mind at that moment.

 _You’re welcome,_ the other one says, and Hal frowns briefly, before shaking his head and dismissing the thought.

“Yes,” he says quietly, hand once again taking hold of Dominic’s, sprawled out across his stomach. “I actually think I might be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Hal’s birthday...... :)


	25. Hiding Place, Part I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, you are absolutely amazing!
> 
> I had such a good time writing this chapter, and I'm really happy with the way it turned out, but once again, it ended up much longer than expected. So, here's Part I, and I'm hopeful I'll be able to post Part II early in the week.

I was so sure, I was faulty  
And not able to love  
But then you crept up on me  
While I was dreaming  
Whispered love into my ear

\- Bloc Party, “Real Talk”

Dominic leans back against the headrest of his first class window seat as he absently watches the lush green landscape fly by, making way a moment later for the dark, bleak walls of the Severn Tunnel. Without even the fields and distant houses outside to occupy his mind, Dominic’s thoughts wander back to earlier this morning, when he was standing in front of the mirror he insisted on fixing to the inside of the wardrobe door, feeling Hal’s eyes on him with every move his fingers were making to tie his grey tie.

_“So why has he asked to talk to you again?” Hal asks for what must be the fifth time. Dominic’s eyes almost automatically try to seek him out in the mirror, only to fall on a seemingly empty leather sofa._

_He sighs. “He is… not happy about my relationship with you,” he states, pulling his tie into place and straightening the knot. Frowning as his gaze once again wanders over the reflection of an empty sofa, he adds, “How do you tie your tie without a mirror?”_

_Hal huffs. “You learn to do a lot of things without a mirror.”_

_Dominic turns around to look at Hal then, watches as he sits with a small crease in his brow, doing his very best to steady his trembling hand as he fills in the crossword in his lap, and despite the slight sheen of sweat that still stands on his brow and the dark rings under his bloodshot eyes, Dominic still thinks he is the most beautiful creature he has ever laid eyes on._

_“Do you even remember what you look like?” he asks before he can stop himself, unable to tear his eyes away as Hal looks up and gives him a melancholic smile._

_“It’s hard to, sometimes,” Hal says, and Dominic feels a small ache in his heart at the admission. “I think I’ve still got a pretty good idea, but it’s been a long time.”_

_“That it has,” Dominic agrees, never taking his eyes off Hal as he walks over towards the sofa, cups Hal’s face in his hand and gives him a quick, gentle kiss. “You’re beautiful,” he whispers against Hal’s lips, and he can feel Hal chuckle lightly against his mouth in response._

_“Definitely not at the moment,” Hal says with raised eyebrows once Dominic pulls away from him._

_It has been three days since Hal’s unfortunate ‘accident’ with Dominic’s nosebleed, and while he has repeatedly reassured Dominic that he has got through the worst of it, it is clear just from looking at him that the withdrawal is still taking its toll on him._

_“So what is he going to do about it?” Hal asks then, steering the conversation back to their previous topic with a serious expression on his face. “Are you… I don’t want you to lose your job over me.”_

_Dominic heaves a deep sigh. “Hal, please, we’ve been over this. I’m not going to lose my job over you. And even if I did, you are more important to me than that job.”_

_Hal looks at him in silence for a long moment before saying, “I remember a time when there was nothing in the world more important to you than that job.”_

_“A lot of things have changed since that time,” Dominic says, meeting Hal’s hazel eyes with bright blue ones before leaning back down for another kiss._

Dominic is jolted from his thoughts by the sudden change in lighting and scenery outside the window as the train leaves the tunnel and makes its way into Bristol.

He wants to think that Hal was completely mistaken, that there is no chance whatsoever of Alistair making life difficult for him – for them – but the truth is he is nowhere near as sure as he made out to be. While his unexpected summons to London is the perfect excuse to deal with another matter he was desperate to get sorted out before the weekend—

_“Why are you taking the train to London, anyway? What’s wrong with your car?” Hal asks, frowning up at Dominic from where he is sitting on the sofa._

_Dominic sighs. “It had to go in for its MOT. Terrible timing, I know. But the train actually doesn’t take any longer, and it’s surely going to be more relaxing.”_

—he would be lying if he said that he is looking forward to his meeting with the Home Secretary. But there is nothing for it, he thinks. He will just have to go in with as much confidence as he can muster, keeping at the back of his mind that Alistair really does need his expertise to run a department that Special Branch have quite clearly demonstrated they are unable to take over, and he will be fine.

***

“Dominic,” Alistair says, sitting at his desk with a smile that doesn’t even remotely meet his eyes. “Come in.”

Dominic enters the spacious office and has a sudden, unwelcome flashback to the senior administrator’s office in purgatory.

 _No,_ he thinks to himself. _Don’t think about that. Don’t think about that ever again if you can help it. It’s just what they want you to do._

Plastering on his own fake smile, Dominic walks straight up to Alistair’s desk and takes a seat. “Alistair, it’s good to see you.”

“And you, Dominic. I trust your journey wasn’t too tedious?”

“Not at all,” Dominic replies, shaking his head.

“Well, then, Dominic, let me not waste too much of your precious time,” Alistair continues, his smile slipping a fraction. “I trust you know why I asked to speak to you today.”

Dominic averts his eyes, a wave of irritation flaring up inside of him for being made to feel like a naughty schoolboy, and says, “I believe so.”

Alistair sighs. “Dominic. Good grief. What are you thinking, man, to continue this… this… sordid affair with that revolting creature?”

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t call him horrible names like that again, Alistair,” Dominic spits, eyes narrowed and voice icy.

Alistair gives him a wide-eyed look and shakes his head. “What happened to you, Dominic? You know, this whole affair – pardon the pun – makes me seriously question whether I am still able to trust your judgement when it comes to other monsters like him. I mean, how do I know that you won’t end up siding with them and supporting some kind of… I don’t know… supernatural coup?”

Dominic lets out a harsh laugh. “You really have no idea what you’re even talking about, do you?”

“To be honest, Dominic, no, I don’t,” Alistair says tiredly. “I haven’t got a clue about any of these things. Which is exactly why I need a trusted person with the expertise to deal with these horrible creatures, just like it always used to be. I understand now that Special Branch are not capable of taking on that responsibility, and I have done what was necessary by reopening your department. But I’m…” he pauses and gives Dominic a meaningful look. “I’m just not sure if you’re the right person for the job anymore, Dominic.”

Dominic swallows compulsively to get rid of the rapidly growing lump in his throat. “But, Alistair—”

“You are just way too tangled up in all of this,” Alistair continues. “How can I possibly trust you to do the right thing if your own pet Type 2 falls off the wagon again and goes on some kind of bloody rampage across Barry?”

“First of all,” Dominic says through clenched teeth, “Hal is not my ‘pet’.”

 _No,_ the other Hal’s words from what seems like so long ago echo in his mind, _if anything, it’s more the other way around._

Dominic can’t suppress the small laugh that bubbles up from his chest at the memory.

“Can I ask what on Earth is funny about this, Dominic?” Alistair asks, more than a little bewildered.

“Nothing,” Dominic says quickly, trying and failing to stop the smile that is spreading on his lips. “Never mind.” After a long moment of silence, in which Alistair gives him an utterly disbelieving look, he finally sobers up and says, “Can I just remind you, Alistair, that I have already proven myself in that respect. Hal wouldn’t be where he is now if I hadn’t put a plan in motion to capture him.”

“Be that as it may, Dominic,” Alistair says, an uncomfortable edge in his voice, “The fact remains that your relationship with that creature is more than a little troubling.” He looks at Dominic with a creased brow, then adds, “Inspector Casselli agrees with me.”

Dominic snorts. “Why am I not surprised?” he mutters under his breath, then puts on another big, fake smile and asks, “How is the good Inspector, anyway? I was hoping to pay him a visit while I’m in town.”

Alistair’s frown deepens. “And why would that be?”

Dominic looks at him with big eyes. “Perhaps he and I can have a chat about his future role as my successor?”

Alistair huffs. “Don’t be ridiculous, Dominic. We both know that is not going to be an option.”

Dominic’s eyes become piercing as he keeps them firmly trained on the man across the desk. “Then maybe you should stop giving me vague threats and accept the situation as it is, Alistair. I am not going to change my mind about Hal.”

“Dominic,” Alistair says with a sigh. “Please consider my position. You can count yourself fortunate that the whole situation is top secret and need to know only, even within the government, so we can avoid a large scale scandal. But if the Prime Minister—”

Dominic’s eyes widen fractionally before he gives Alistair a grim smile. “So this is not about me at all, is it? It’s about your own job security. You feel that I will reflect badly on you, and you don’t want to lose your precious position.” He pauses, gives Alistair a significant look, but the other just looks back at him in silence. “Listen, Alistair,” Dominic continues, “the way I see it, the less said about the situation the better. You let me get on with my life, and in return I will not bother you needlessly with any details of my relationship with Hal. And if it comes down to it, you can always pretend you didn’t know.”

Alistair looks at him for a moment longer in stunned silence. Then he slowly nods his head. “I see your point,” he admits faintly, and Dominic smiles.

“I’m glad we understand each other.” Then, with a curt nod and a “Good day, Alistair,” he stands up and walks across the large office to the exit.

Once outside, Dominic stops and takes a deep, shaky breath. That was way too close for comfort. He knows that if Alistair really wanted, he could revoke his mandate in a matter of minutes. And this time, he would be unlikely to be as helpful in finding him a different position as he was previously.

Slowly setting himself in motion again, Dominic calls a lift back to the ground floor and leaves the Home Office building to find himself back in the sweltering late summer heat that has descended upon the capital. Walking amongst the endless swathes of tourists exploring the City of Westminster, he slightly loosens his tie to relieve some of the stickiness at the back of his neck that may or may not be entirely due to the uncharacteristic heat wave. He turns off into a small side road, away from the endless groups of tourists, and cuts through onto Broadway, finally coming to a halt in front of the iconic headquarters of New Scotland Yard.

Taking another, steadier deep breath, he enters the building and walks up to the receptionist. “I’m looking for Special Branch,” he says in his best business voice.

The young, brunette woman looks at him with a questioning expression on her face. “And you are…?”

“My name is Dominic Rook. I work for the Department of Domestic Defence. I need to speak to Detective Inspector Casselli.”

“Of course, sir, just one moment,” the receptionist says, picking up the phone on the desk in front of her. Dominic’s eyes wander around the foyer of the building while she is on the phone, and he tries to imagine what it must have been like for Alex, walking around the building unseen and unheard, making her way through closed doors and into highly confidential archives. He briefly wonders if they have done anything to ghost-proof the building after the break-in, but doesn’t get to continue that thought as the receptionist says, “Mr Rook? You are cleared to go through. Take the lift to the fifth floor, first door on the right.”

Dominic quickly thanks the receptionist and makes his way towards the lifts. This is going to be the easy part, he keeps reminding himself. The difficult part is already successfully dealt with. This is for Hal.

The lift pings and the doors open to reveal a bleak, white corridor, and Dominic walks along to the door indicated by the receptionist, opening it to find a large, open-plan office beyond. A middle-aged woman with curly blond hair sits at the desk closest to the door, and her eyes snap up when she sees Dominic enter.

“Can I help you?” she asks, with the air of someone who really doesn’t have the time to deal with lost-looking men in grey suits right about now, thank you very much.

“Er, yes, thank you. I’m looking for Detective Inspector Casselli,” Dominic says, giving her a bright smile despite her surly demeanour.

“Huh. Is the Inspector expecting you?” the woman asks.

Dominic shakes his head, but never wavers in his smile. “No, I don’t believe so. But it’s very important that I speak to him, so…” he trails off and gives her a significant look.

The woman sighs. “All right. The Inspector’s office is at the back, furthest door on the right, next to the staff room.” She vaguely gestures to the other end of the large office.

“Thank you very much,” Dominic says with another smile, and makes his way across the room, pairs of curious eyes following him as he goes.

Casselli’s office door is open, and Dominic looks inside to see Casselli sitting at his desk, eyes darting over his computer screen. Dominic clears his throat loudly and walks inside, and immediately Casselli looks up at him, and his eyes widen.

“Mr Rook,” he says, voice cool but not fully hostile. “What an unexpected visit.”

“Inspector,” Dominic replies, inclining his head in greeting.

“What can I do for you?” Casselli asks, gesturing to a chair on the other side of his desk, and Dominic takes a seat. “Have there been any new developments?”

“Nothing I would need your assistance with, Inspector,” Dominic says, shaking his head. “No. I’m here for… personal reasons.”

Casselli’s face darkens. “This is something to do with SJ031.”

Dominic sighs. “Yes,” he says. “It is indeed.”

“Well,” Casselli says, raising his eyebrows at him. “Spit it out, Rook. What do you want?”

Dominic takes a deep breath, looks straight at Casselli, and says, “I believe in the course of your investigation, you seized a car. A light blue 1968 Mercedes, registration NMS 475F.”

“Listen, Mr Rook, that car is an important piece of evidence—”

“—in a case that has been long solved,” Dominic finishes, giving Casselli a significant look. “There is no reason to keep the car at your pound any longer.”

Casselli lets out a humourless laugh. “What, so you think you can just… strut in here and claim a vital piece of evidence because you’re romantically involved with the perpetrator?”

Dominic tries and fails to control the unwelcome blush that rises to his cheeks at the Inspector’s words. “That’s not what I—”

“That’s exactly what you’re here to do, Rook, and don’t pretend otherwise.” His face contorts in an ugly grimace when he adds. “I can’t even begin to tell you how disturbing the thought is that you… well, never mind. What’s so important about that old rust bucket, anyway?”

Dominic takes a deep breath to calm himself, and says, “I believe the car has been in his possession, or the possession of someone important to him, for a very long time. I’m sure he would appreciate having it back. Also,” he adds, raising his eyebrows at Casselli, “last time I looked, the car was actually in a very good condition. So I don’t know what your people have done to it, but I would very much appreciate taking it back before it encounters any more irreparable damage.”

Casselli gives him another dark look, then sighs and shakes his head. “Yeah, whatever. Take the blooming car. It’s only taking up space at the pound anyway.”

Dominic gives Casselli a bright smile, which only makes Casselli’s frown deepen. “Thank you, Inspector.”

“Uh huh,” Casselli grunts, turning back towards his computer screen. “Was there anything else, Mr Rook, or is that all?”

“Thank you, that’s all for now,” Dominic says, and swiftly leaves the man’s office.

***

Hal is in the middle of dusting the bottles behind the bar in the living room when he hears footsteps on the stairs, and a moment later, Dominic walks into the room, a bright, beautiful smile on his face as his eyes fall on Hal.

“Good morning,” Dominic says.

Hal lifts his eyebrows at him. “You’re in a good mood.”

Dominic’s smile, if anything, brightens even more, and Hal finds the corners of his own mouth lifting as he looks back at him over the bar. “It’s a good day,” Dominic says, eyes twinkling, and Hal’s brow furrows.

“Is there something I’m missing? Other than it’s a Sunday and you don’t have to work today?”

Dominic throws him an expectant look, and Hal’s frown deepens. After a moment, Dominic sighs and says, “You’ve forgotten.”

“Forgotten what, Dominic?” Hal asks, confused.

 _What is it that I’m missing?_ he asks himself, not expecting the prompt answer.

_Think._

_Think about what?_ he asks back, and he can feel the other one’s exasperated frustration.

Dominic, however, doesn’t seem to mind that he has forgotten whatever it is that is significant about today, as he comes around the bar and takes hold of Hal’s hand, smile still firmly in place as he wordlessly leads Hal into the hallway and towards the front door.

“Dominic?” he asks, a hint of panic creeping into his voice. “You know I can’t go out there.”

Dominic turns around to him and looks straight into his eyes, a small crease between his brows and a sigh on his lips. “It’s about time that you do, Hal.”

“No,” Hal replies immediately, shaking his head. “It’s not safe, Dominic, I can’t—”

Dominic’s right index finger comes up to lie across his lips, effectively shutting him up. “It will be fine, Hal. I’ve got you. You haven’t attacked me, you’re not going to attack anyone else in the fifty yards we have to walk to get to…” he drifts off, and Hal frowns again.

“Get to where?”

“Now that would be telling,” Dominic says, the corners of his mouth lifting as he opens the front door. His hand is still holding Hal’s in a steel grip, and Hal sighs and follows him over the threshold, the first step he has set outside the house since the fateful night they came back from purgatory. Dominic leads him down the path towards the pavement, and then further along and around the street corner, before coming to an abrupt halt.

“Dominic, what—” Hal starts, but his words stick in his throat when he looks up and his eyes fall on… “My car,” he breathes, eyes wide as he takes in the baby blue Mercedes parked on the side of the road. “How did you…?” he trails off, slowly turning around to Dominic, who once again looks at him with a bright smile on his face. Then he leans in and gently presses his lips to Hal’s.

“Happy birthday,” he whispers against Hal’s lips, and all of a sudden all the pieces fall into place.

“That’s why… But you said… How did you…?” he trails off again, somehow not able to form coherent thoughts, and settles on just shaking his head.

Dominic laughs. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you speechless before,” he says, then leans in for another quick peck on Hal’s lips. “One thing at a time, Hal. Start again.”

Hal smiles sheepishly, gives another small shake of his head, then takes a deep breath and says, “You said you weren’t going to celebrate that day.”

Dominic shrugs. “Like I said the other day, a lot of things have changed, Hal.” He pauses, eyes wandering off down the road, and continues, “I thought about what you said. That if it weren’t for that day, I would never have met you.” His eyes come back to focus on Hal, and he smiles. “You were right. That’s more than enough reason to celebrate.”

“You’re incredible,” Hal breathes, and Dominic lets out another quiet laugh.

“So you keep telling me.”

Hal smiles at him. “Must be true then.” His eyes fall back on his – _Leo’s_ – Mercedes, and he remembers the second question he was going to ask. “How did you get it back? I thought the police had seized it?”

Dominic smiles mysteriously. “I can be very persuasive.”

Hal’s eyebrows shoot up. “You didn’t sleep with Casselli, did you?”

“No, of course not,” Dominic splutters, eyes big as saucers as he looks back at Hal.

Hal chuckles and tilts his head down to brush his lips against Dominic’s. “Didn’t think you would.” With one hand still firmly in Dominic’s grasp, he brings the other one up to the back of Dominic’s head and leans in again for another, firmer kiss, briefly sucking his bottom lip into his mouth before releasing it again a split second later. “Thank you,” he whispers, thumb brushing over the light stubble on Dominic’s cheek.

“You’re welcome,” Dominic says. “I got it serviced and a few new parts put in, so it should be in perfect working order. The mechanic said he’s rarely seen a car of that age in such a good condition.”

“Same can be said about the owner,” Hal says, smiling against Dominic’s mouth as he kisses him again, and he can feel the air vibrate against his lips as Dominic chuckles in reply.

“That was terrible, Hal,” he says, shaking his head.

Hal gives him a wide-eyed, innocent look. “What, you don’t agree?”

Dominic snorts. “Probably best to let that go.” Then he pulls on Hal’s hand again, leading him towards the passenger door of the car and opening it for him. Hal gives him a curious look.

“What?” he asks.

“Get in, you idiot,” says Dominic, gesturing to the open door.

Hal’s eyes widen. “No, Dominic. I can’t… where are you planning to go? I’m not… I really don’t think—”

“Hal,” Dominic cuts in sharply, blue eyes piercing into him. “I’ve thought this through. We’re not going anywhere with lots of people. Just… trust me, okay? It’s your birthday, and I want to… celebrate it with you.”

Dominic’s bright blue eyes never waver from his, and Hal can feel a stirring of something at the pit of his stomach for a moment, before the other one speaks up, _Go on, Hal. He wouldn’t be so stupid as to take you somewhere dangerous._ Hal can feel the internal eye roll at the last word. _So do us both a favour and just go along with it, okay?_ He pauses, and Hal is about to reply, when the other one adds, _If you don’t, I will._

Hal’s nostrils flare and he feels a quiet growl build low in his throat. Before he realises what he is doing, his mouth opens and he says, “Don’t you dare.”

Looking back at Dominic a moment later, he sees the man giving him a puzzled look. “What did he say?” he asks, as if it is nothing out of the ordinary to hear a random fragment of a silent conversation.

Hal quickly shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter.” His eyes wander towards the open passenger door, and he says, “Let’s go,” before climbing in and giving Dominic a small, affirmative nod as the other man shuts the door and walks around to the driver’s side.

Dominic slides into the driver’s seat and turns towards him, a pensive look on his face. “Please tell him thank you,” he says, and Hal’s stomach gives a little, uncomfortable lurch.

“He can hear you,” he says quietly, turning away from Dominic and looking out the window.

“Hal,” Dominic says after a moment of silence. “I’m sorry. I… this is for both of you. I want to… to show you something. A place I used to go to. It’s safe, I promise you.”

Hal thinks about his words for another long moment. _This is for both of you._ Is Dominic trying to say that he cares about the other one the same way he cares about him? Can he live with having to share him like that?

Does he even have a choice?

“Hal,” Dominic says again, and a warm hand comes to lie on his top of his own in his lap. “I’m sorry if I upset you. I… don’t want us to fight. Please. Not today.”

Hal’s eyes slowly come up to meet Dominic’s, and his hand closes around the other’s. “Okay,” he says quietly. “I’m sorry, I’m still struggling to get my head around all of this.” A small smile spreads on his face then, and he asks, “So what’s this mystery place you want to show me?”

“That’s a surprise,” Dominic says, a smile on his own face. The next moment, Dominic turns the key in the ignition, and the old Mercedes roars to life. Hal can’t help the smile on his lips widening at the familiar, comforting sound. Dominic watches him intently. “You ready?”

Hal gives him a small, hesitant nod. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

Dominic slowly sets the car in motion and rolls away down the road and towards the town centre. Hal clenches his teeth and firmly stares down at his lap to not look too closely at the scattered Sunday morning shoppers on the pavement outside as they make their way through Barry, until the houses become fewer and further between and finally give way to trees and green fields, and Hal slowly feels himself relax.

Lifting his eyes back up to Dominic, he asks, “Can you at least give me some kind of hint of where it is we are going?”

Dominic gives him a fleeting look before fixing his gaze back on the road in front of him. Hal can see a small smile playing on his lips. “As I said already, it’s a place I used to visit a lot. It was… a bit of a secret, if you will.”

Hal lifts his eyebrows. “A secret place, huh? I’m intrigued.”

Dominic’s eyes once again flick over to him. “And so you should be.”

They continue their journey in silence, but it is not an uncomfortable one. Hal’s gaze wanders over the scenery outside, while Dominic concentrates on the road, as they make their way across the Welsh countryside. Finally, after about forty-five minutes or so, Dominic brings the car to a stop by the side of a small country road. The only sign of civilisation Hal can make out is an old wooden shelter at a bus stop about thirty yards down the road.

Dominic’s eyes follow his gaze as they get out of the car, and he smiles. “That’s how I used to get here. Before I was able to drive. The school bus used to come down here, and I always wondered why there is a stop in the middle of nowhere, so one day I decided to get off and explore.”

Dominic comes around the front of the car to once again take Hal’s hand into his own, and he gives him a little tug to make him follow along as he starts walking down an overgrown dirt path into the woods. There are overhanging branches and high growing weeds everywhere, and they have to tread carefully not to get themselves caught up or burned by stinging nettles.

“When was the last time you came out here?” Hal asks.

Dominic gives a short laugh. “Yesterday,” he says, eyes glinting as he turns his head to look at Hal. “But before that, I don’t know… maybe fifteen years ago?”

They make their slow, careful way through the woods, until the path finally widens out as the trees become scarcer, and Hal’s eyes widen as they fall on a secluded sandy beach, and the quiet waves of the Bristol Channel beyond. Just like Dominic promised, there isn’t another soul in sight anywhere, and Hal takes a deep breath of fresh sea air. He didn’t even realise he had stopped dead in his tracks, until Dominic’s arm snakes around him and his chin comes to lie against Hal’s shoulder.

“Enjoying the view?” he asks, and Hal nods.

“Well, come on. We’re actually not quite there yet,” Dominic says, ushering him along with a hand at the small of his back, and Hal sets himself in motion again along the quiet beach. He is surprised at first when Dominic leads him along towards the cliffs that rise up at the far end of the bay, to where the rocky walls almost meet the water, but then he notices what looks like a small opening in the cliff wall, a few feet off the beach, above the shallow water.

Dominic stops abruptly and grins at Hal, then bends down to take off his shoes and socks, rolling up his trouser legs. He straightens up and shoots Hal an expectant look. Hal wordlessly follows his example, and as soon as he is finished, Dominic’s hand is in his again, and he pulls him along into the shallow sea water. From this angle, Hal gets a better look at the opening in the cliff wall, and he sees a small, rocky cave opening up beyond.

Dominic wades through the water in front of him, towards the cave, then takes the small step out of the water and back onto dry land. Hal follows behind him and once again his eyes widen in surprise as he notices a soft fleece blanket on the floor, as well as what looks like a picnic basket, a bottle of red wine, and two glasses. Dominic puts his shoes down on the floor by the cave entrance and sits down on the large blanket, pulling Hal down with him a moment later.

“Happy birthday,” he says again, a smile on his face.

Hal lets out a small, incredulous laugh. “This is…” he trails off, takes a look around him, taking in the small, secluded cave and the gentle sound of the waves lapping against the cliff wall outside. “Wow. I can’t believe no one knows about this place.”

Dominic chuckles. “I’m sure people do. But as long as I’ve been coming here, I’ve never met another soul, so I thought it was probably going to be safe enough.”

“And you used to come here as a child?” Hal asks, looking back at Dominic.

Dominic nods. “I think I found it when I was about eight or nine. At first I used to only come here when I…” he trails off, averting his eyes, and Hal can see a shadow falling over his face as he loses himself in his thoughts for a long moment.

“Dominic?” Hal asks, frowning.

Dominic’s eyes dart back up to him. “Sorry. I was going to say that I used to treat this place as a kind of… secret hiding place. Somewhere I could escape to when I…” he pauses, clears his throat. “Let’s just say my father and I didn’t have the… most loving relationship,” he finishes hesitantly.

Hal’s frown deepens. Dominic never really mentioned his father much, other than to say that he lived with him after his mother died, and that he also used to work at the Archive. Looking at Dominic now, at that painful, haunted expression in his eyes, Hal starts to see a very different picture. “He hurt you?” he asks carefully.

Dominic looks away, off into the distance, and his voice is completely emotionless when he replies, “Just a little.”

“Dominic…” Hal starts, then pauses and reaches one hand out to lightly brush down the side of Dominic’s arm.

The blond man looks back towards him with a small, broken smile and says, “Don’t worry about that. We’re here to celebrate your birthday, not to talk about my fucked up childhood.”

Hal huffs. “You know all about my fucked up childhood.”

“It’s not a competition, Hal,” Dominic says, reaching out to once again take Hal’s hand in his own, thumb rubbing gently over the back of his hand. Then he leans in and brushes his lips against Hal’s, so lightly they are barely touching at all, and Hal finds that it is nowhere near enough, so he leans in closer, pressing his lips against Dominic’s, and they kiss for a long moment. He can hear Dominic let out a soft sigh at the contact, and he smiles into the kiss.

Eventually, Dominic pulls back, eyes bright and boring right into him, before a light pink blush rises into his cheeks. He looks like he is about to say something, but then closes his mouth again and looks away.

“What?” Hal asks, his own smile slightly teasing at the other man’s obvious embarrassment.

“No, nothing,” Dominic says quickly, but Hal reaches out to touch the side of his face, gently pulling his head back towards him.

“You can tell me,” Hal says. “I mean, Jesus, what can be more embarrassing than what you saw about me in purgatory?”

Dominic frowns. “There was nothing there to be embarrassed about.”

Hal can’t stop the small, harsh laugh that escapes his lips. “I reserve the right to disagree.”

“Hal,” Dominic says, giving him a disapproving look, and Hal sighs.

“Okay, fine,” he concedes, before a glint comes back into his eyes and he smiles at Dominic as he says, “So what were you going to say?”

The blush returns into Dominic’s cheeks, more vivid than ever, and Hal feels a sudden surge of hunger at the pit of his stomach. He sharply exhales through his nose, trying his best to ignore it.

“I meant to say,” Dominic starts, then pauses and looks away again. “The reason I brought you here… when I was younger, I always thought that, if I ever fell in love with a girl, that I would… bring her here. So we could share this place, as our secret, together.” He lets out a small, embarrassed laugh. “God, that sounds so stupid when I say it out loud.”

Hal feels a grin spreading across his face. “Not stupid at all,” he says. “But I’ve got to ask… are you telling me I’m that girl?”

Dominic looks absolutely mortified. “No, of course not,” he chokes out, and Hal bursts out laughing. “I mean, you’re that person, yes, because there was no… no girl.” His voice goes very quiet at the end, and Hal’s laughter dies in his throat.

“Dominic,” he starts in a serious tone, and Dominic’s eyes snap back up to his, a small crease in his brow. “I never really got to ask you about this, and you don’t need to answer, if you don’t want to, but… has there really never been anyone else? Before me?”

“No,” Dominic says, shaking his head. “Never. I always thought…” he drifts off, frowning, then continues after a moment, “I thought I was somehow, I don’t know, faulty. That I wasn’t able to feel those kinds of emotions for anyone. Back when I was a teenager, and everyone around me was starting to go out with girls, I waited and waited, but it just never happened.”

“You’re not faulty,” Hal says, one hand still firmly holding on to Dominic’s hand, while his free hand runs up Dominic’s arm to his shoulder, then up to his face, thumb stroking across his cheek.

Dominic inhales sharply at the touch. “Well, I guess my father probably wasn’t a particularly good role model in that respect,” he says. “The most involved relationship he ever had was probably with his favourite prostitute.” He cuts off abruptly, and his eyes grow huge when he realises what he has just said. “I’m so sorry,” he rushes out.

“Don’t worry,” Hal says, giving him a small smile. His hand wanders around to the back of Dominic’s neck, and he pulls him towards him for a long, slow kiss.

Eventually, Dominic pulls away from him and gives him a hesitant, almost shy smile. “So, with that said,” he starts, then looks deep into Hal’s eyes and continues, “It’s your birthday, Hal. There is wine, there is fruit, crackers and cheese, there’s an actual birthday cake, and… well, and there’s me.” His eyes dart down for a moment before coming back up to meet Hal’s, big and blue and gorgeous. Then he swallows thickly, clears his throat, and asks, “What would you like?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Couple of points:
> 
> 1\. There really was a mini heatwave in London on 4th/5th September 2013, and I could just imagine how hot Dominic would have got in that suit in 30 degree sunshine :)
> 
> 2\. The beach/cave that Dominic takes Hal to is not a real place. As far as I know no such place exists on the coast between Cardiff and Barry. As much as I like to stick to realism, sometimes it's just not completely possible.


	26. Hiding Place, Part II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you so much for reading!
> 
> So this is what happens if you let me write a chapter while I'm in bed with the flu...

My mind is open  
And my body is yours  
Show me the sign  
Please

\- Bloc Party, “Real Talk”

Hal looks directly into Dominic’s big blue eyes, the blond man’s question echoing around and around his head.

_“What would you like?”_

_You don’t want the real answer to that question,_ Hal thinks, and the other one scoffs inside his head.

_You really are are disgrace, Hal._

“I…” he starts, and Dominic’s eyes, if anything, widen even more, looking at him expectantly.

“Yes?”

Hal inhales deeply, then gives Dominic a teasing smile and says, “Why don’t we start with some cheese and wine?” Dominic looks at him for a moment in utter disbelief, and Hal chuckles. “You look like you could do with some lunch before any more… strenuous activity,” he adds, and a part of him regrets it straight away as he watches the most delicious flush creep into Dominic’s cheeks.

“Of course,” Dominic says quickly. Keeping his eyes firmly on Hal, he reaches out and opens the picnic basket, getting out a well stocked cheese board, a bunch each of red and white grapes and an assortment of crackers. He places the items down on the blanket next to them and turns to retrieve the wine bottle and glasses, holding the latter out to Hal. “Hold these for a moment?” he asks.

“Sure,” Hal replies, taking hold of the glasses while Dominic uncorks the bottle of what he can now see is an expensive looking Pinot Noir. He pours out two generous glasses and puts down the bottle before taking the glass that Hal holds out to him.

Dominic gives him a soft smile and once again says, “Happy birthday.”

“Thanks.” Hal lifts the glass to his mouth and takes a careful sip, watching Dominic doing the same. Then his eyes follow Dominic’s hand as he puts the glass down on a particularly even stretch of rocky ground next to the blanket and cuts off a piece of veiny blue cheese, loading it onto a water biscuit and bringing it up to his mouth. He can’t tear his eyes away as Dominic’s own eyes close in pure bliss and a small sigh escapes his lips, before he opens his eyes again and gives Hal a somewhat sheepish look.

“Sorry,” he says through his mouthful of cheese and cracker, and Hal smiles.

“Don’t apologise. I didn’t know you liked cheese so much.”

Dominic gives him a small laugh. “Yes. Guilty pleasure, what can I say?”

His smile still firmly in place and eyes never leaving Dominic’s, Hal replies, “I guess as pleasures go, that one is a lot less guilty than some.”

Dominic blushes and swallows, obviously getting Hal’s meaning. He averts his eyes, pulls off a small bunch of grapes and pops one into his mouth.

 _He’s not exactly making it easier, is he?_ the other one throws in, and despite his best efforts, Hal can’t help but silently agree.

Taking another sip of wine, Hal watches Dominic eat another couple of white grapes and reach for the cheese knife again. Then Dominic freezes mid motion, and his eyes come up to meet Hal’s with a frown line between his brows.

“You’re not eating,” he states, and Hal sighs.

“I’m not—”

But he doesn’t get to finish the sentence as Dominic takes the opportunity to pop a grape right in between his open lips. Dominic looks on with a glint in his eyes and a big smile on his face as Hal chews and swallows, then frowns at him.

“I’m really not hungry,” he manages to say this time around, but Dominic just shakes his head.

“Not an option, sorry, Hal.” He cuts off a piece of what looks like aged cheddar, places it on a cream cracker before holding it out to Hal. “There you go.”

Hal’s eyes flick between Dominic’s outstretched hand and his face, but he doesn’t make any move to accept the food from him. Dominic’s eyebrows lift up.

“Hal?”

 _Take it, you idiot,_ the other one says then. _Starving yourself won’t make the other hunger go away. Let’s just try and enjoy the moment, okay?_

Taking a deep breath, Hal reaches out a trembling hand to take the cracker from Dominic, and the corners of his mouth lift in response to the bright smile on Dominic’s face as he takes a large bite out of it.

“That’s better,” Dominic says, preparing another cracker for himself. “I hate having to eat alone. Especially if it’s _your_ birthday picnic.”

“Can I just remind you that I never asked for a birthday picnic,” Hal points out, and Dominic rolls his eyes.

“Ungrateful twat,” he mutters under his breath, but there is a glint in his eyes and a curve to his lips that tell Hal that he is teasing him.

Hal’s eyebrows shoot up in mock indignance. “What did you just call me?”

“I believe I called you an ungrateful twat,” Dominic repeats, and before he even knows what hit him, Hal leaps across the small space separating them on the blanket and launches himself at him, toppling both of them over so that he ends up on top of Dominic, straddling him.

“What did you just call me?” he asks again, looking down at Dominic, trying hard to keep a straight face as Dominic’s eyes widen comically.

“I called you an ungratef—” Dominic’s words explode into laughter as Hal brings both of his hands up to his sides to mercilessly tickle him. He watches Dominic wriggle and squirm helplessly under him for a long moment, a strange combination of laughter and yelps of pain escaping his lips. “Hal!” he squeals breathlessly, and Hal looks down at him with a grim smile on his face.

“What, Dominic?” he asks, keeping his voice as even as he can even as Dominic pants and whimpers in the most delicious way under him.

“I… I think… I… argh, Hal, stop!… Please stop!… I… I’m sorry!… I’m sorry!”

Hal abruptly stops his tickling attack, lets his hands lie flat against Dominic’s sides as he allows him to catch his breath, chest rising and falling rapidly underneath him. Their eyes meet, and Hal is drawn in immediately by the piercing intensity in Dominic’s bright blue orbs. He leans forward just as Dominic pushes himself up into a sitting position, hands grabbing Hal’s head and pulling him towards him before crushing their lips together in a bruising kiss.

Hal is more or less sitting in Dominic’s lap as he kisses him back, hands running up his sides and taking his t-shirt with them until the fabric bunches up under Dominic’s armpits, and Dominic lets out a soft whimper at the feeling of Hal’s fingers on his exposed skin. Hal can feel the beginnings of arousal flickering in the pit of his stomach, and he lets out a quiet, breathy moan against Dominic’s mouth. Almost on cue, Dominic leans back slightly to meet Hal’s eyes, a curious expression in his own.

“What do you want, Hal?” he says, slightly breathless from their kiss, and Hal can feel the hunger swelling up inside of him again as his eyes wander down, first to Dominic’s slim neck and then to the pale, smooth skin of his exposed chest, the small silver cross glinting in the bright midday sun.

Swallowing down the desire to sink his teeth into that perfect skin, he snaps his eyes back up to Dominic’s face and says, “I want you to take control. Do whatever you want to do with me. I want…” he takes a deep, shaky breath, feeling a strong surge of arousal at his own words, even as a secret, hidden part of him screams for him to stop, to think, to get up and walk away. “I want you to take charge.” Looking straight into Dominic’s big, blue eyes, he adds, “Do you think you can do that?”

A small moan escapes Dominic’s lips as he tightens his grip in Hal’s hair once more, pulling him in for another kiss. “Yes,” he moans against Hal’s mouth, “I can definitely do that.”

Hal feels his mouth open almost automatically as Dominic’s tongue probes against his lips, deepening the kiss, while Dominic’s hands push his shirt up and over his head, mouths only separating for a fraction of a second before crashing back together hungrily, Hal’s shirt discarded on the blanket next to them. Dominic’s hands are straight back on him, running up and down his chest, his shoulders, his arms, back to his chest, fingers lightly rubbing over sensitive nipples, and Hal lets out a deep moan that is swallowed up by Dominic’s mouth on his.

Then Dominic’s nimble fingers make their way down to his trousers, swiftly opening the button and zip and cupping his growing erection through his boxer briefs. Hal moans again, louder, as he feels the wonderful friction of Dominic’s hand rubbing against him, slowly moving up and down his length through the thin fabric. At the same time, he can feel Dominic’s own cock hardening and twitching against him where he is sitting in his lap, and he shifts himself slightly to rub against him through too many layers of clothing.

Dominic chuckles lightly against his mouth. “You enjoying that?” he asks, and Hal nods.

“Very much,” he says, letting out another moan as Dominic finally reaches inside his underwear and wraps those long, slender fingers around him. “Oh, Dominic, oh god, please, more,” he whimpers, and Dominic laughs again.

“Getting a little bit impatient, are we?” he says, the fingers of his free hand lightly rubbing and pinching one of Hal’s nipples. All the while and Hal shivers and lets out a long, shaky sigh. “What happened to ‘Do whatever you want with me’?”

“I’m sorry,” Hal says at once. “Continue.”

Dominic, however, seems to have other ideas, as he stops what he is doing completely and pushes Hal off of his lap. Hal has to throw his hands out behind him to keep himself at least semi upright as he lands with a thud on the blanket. Dominic moves in immediately, grabbing the waistband of Hal’s jeans and yanking them down, shortly followed by his boxer briefs. Then he sits back on his heels and gives Hal a long look, bright eyes wandering over his naked form, and Hal stays perfectly still for him, waiting for his next move.

His eyebrows shoot up as he watches Dominic push his legs apart, then move in between them and lean down to press his soft lips against the inside of Hal’s left thigh, just above his knee. Dominic’s eyes meet his own, darkened with arousal, while his lips kiss a wet trail up the inside of his thigh, making Hal shiver with anticipation.

“Dominic,” he breathes, and to his utter horror and exasperation, Dominic lifts his mouth off of his thigh and smiles at him sweetly.

“Yes, Hal?”

Hal lets out a shaky sigh. “Just… carry on.” Dominic lifts his eyebrows at him. “Please?” Hal adds, his own eyes widening as he inwardly battles a heady mixture of arousal and unrelenting hunger. Keeping Dominic in control may be the only way they get through this without any more unfortunate accidents.

The other one huffs in his head. _Accidents. We both know it wouldn’t be an accident, Hal. That it wasn’t an accident the last time. It’s what you want, it’s what you’ve wanted ever since you came back from purgatory. To sink your fangs into that soft, pale skin. To feel the blood rushing from his vein straight into your mouth. That delicious blood, Hal. There is_ nothing _you want more, and don’t kid yourself into thinking otherwise._

“No,” Hal moans, eyes flying open and darting around the cave before settling on Dominic, who is once again sitting back on his heels, watching him with a small, concerned crease in his brow.

Dominic sighs and asks, “What did he say, Hal?”

Hal swallows. “Nothing. I’m sorry. Carry on, please.”

Dominic gives him a long, hard look, but obviously realises that he is not going to get anywhere, and with another small sigh, he leans back down to press a gentle kiss to Hal’s right knee, repeating what he did on the other side, slowly, so very slowly working his way up the inside of his thigh towards his groin. One of Hal’s hands shoots out to lightly run his fingers through Dominic’s hair, and a loud, broken moan bubbles up from his throat as he feels Dominic’s lips press a feather-light kiss to the very tip of his aching cock.

Dominic looks up at him and smiles before he leans down again to tentatively swirl his tongue around the head, dipping it into the slit before licking a wet stripe all the way to the base. One of Dominic’s hands wraps around his cock then as his tongue wanders further down, over the sensitive skin of his testicles.

“Dominic,” Hal whimpers, “that feels so good. I… uh…” he trails off as his body is gripped by an almighty shiver when Dominic sucks one of his balls into his mouth, playing with it for a moment before letting it go and moving on to the second one. “You’re definitely… uh… a fast learner,” Hal continues, and Dominic lifts his head to smile at him once more.

“I do what I can,” he says, then descends once more to take the very tip of Hal’s cock between his lips, and Hal groans and lets himself fall back on the soft blanket, enjoying the feeling of Dominic’s warm, wet mouth all around him. Dominic starts bobbing his head up and down his length, and Hal can feel his arousal build, cock twitching in Dominic’s mouth. The smell of Dominic’s sweet, tempting blood is so strong all around him, driving him to the brink of losing control, and he forces himself to stop breathing and clenches his eyes tightly shut, gathering all his strength to resist the temptation, to just lie and enjoy and allow himself to let go without… without…

“Stop,” he gasps, and immediately, he can feel Dominic’s mouth leaving him, and Hal props himself back up on his elbows to better be able to look at him. Dominic sits back on his heels between his legs, glancing down at him with a small frown on his face.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, concern heavy in his voice, and Hal feels pathetic and stupid suddenly for having been so weak.

“Nothing,” he says, a little more forcefully than intended, and Dominic’s frown deepens.

“Hal?”

“I…” he drifts off, looks away, unsure how to tell Dominic what is going through his head.

Dominic moves on the blanket until he lies down next to Hal, propped up on one elbow, his other hand lightly brushing over Hal’s forearm. Hal’s eyes snap down to where Dominic is touching him, before slowly coming back up to his face.

“I don’t think I can… let myself go enough to…” he drifts off, closes his eyes. “The bloodlust is too strong,” he admits, shame in his voice. “I don’t think I can resist it.”

Even with his eyes still closed, he can hear the frown in Dominic’s voice when he says, “But last time…”

Hal lets out a hollow laugh. “ _Last time_ it wasn’t just me, remember?” he says bitterly, opening his eyes, but turning his head away from Dominic.

“Hal,” Dominic says, and he sighs deeply, but doesn’t move, even as he can still feel Dominic’s gentle fingers brush against his forearm. “Hal, please, look at me.” Slowly, reluctantly, Hal turns his head to look at Dominic, who meets is eyes with nothing but caring and love in his own. “Are you telling me that he kept you from biting me?” Dominic asks seriously.

Hal gives him a tiny nod. “Yes, he did. It’s hard to explain. With you, he has been… almost back to the way… no, never mind,” he finishes, shaking his head.

Dominic narrows his eyes at him. “Back to the way…?” he prompts, but Hal shakes his head again.

“No, Dominic. Sorry, but that’s… I don’t talk about that.” Dominic keeps looking at him expectantly, and Hal lifts his eyebrows at him in reply. “I said no, Dominic.”

Dominic sighs. “All right.”

They lie in silence for a long moment, Dominic’s hand starting to wander from his arm to his stomach and over his chest, then slowly back down across his stomach before tentatively brushing against his half hard cock. As soon as Dominic touches him, Hal can feel himself respond, and he shivers as Dominic’s fingers close around him again, stroking him back to full hardness in a matter of seconds.

“Oh, Dominic,” he moans as the sensation of both arousal and hunger, so intimately intertwined, hits him once again with full force.

 _You should just do it,_ the other one says then, and from the way he sounds in his head, Hal can tell that he is as affected by Dominic’s ministrations as he is. _Just ask him. I’m sure he will let you. You’re not going to kill him, Hal. We’re not going to kill him._

“Dominic,” he says before he can stop himself, eyes seeking out the blond man next to him.

“Yes, Hal?” Dominic asks, hand never stopping its movement on his erection.

“Please… I want…”

“What do you want, Hal? Tell me, and I’ll do it,” Dominic says, and Hal wants to shout at him that he is the one in control, that he has to make the decisions, that he can’t trust him to do what is right.

But all that comes out when he opens his mouth is, “I want to be inside of you… and I… I want to… I want to taste you…”

There is a sharp intake of breath, and Dominic’s hand on him only hesitates for a fraction of a second before a small, needy whimper escapes his mouth, and he starts pumping him again.

“Yes, Hal,” he says, and his free hand comes up to his own trousers, making quick work of the button and zip, and then he moves away from Hal, wriggling out of his trousers and pushing the t-shirt over his head before turning around to rummage in the picnic basket for what Hal can only assume is lube.

Hal once again pushes himself up into a sitting position, letting his eyes wander over Dominic’s slim, naked back. Then Dominic turns around to him, a small bottle clenched in his hand, and shuffles towards him on his knees before climbing into his lap and meeting Hal’s lips in a searing kiss, one hand clasping the back of his head.

Dominic’s other hand reaches out to find Hal’s, and something cold and wet is spread across his fingers. Then Dominic guides his hand around and down, until his lubed fingers find his puckered entrance. Hal takes his time to spread the lube around the outside before slowly inserting one finger. He gives Dominic a moment to adjust, then curls his finger just so, and almost at once he can feel Dominic shiver, a little sigh escaping his lips. Hal moves the finger in and out a few more times, each time making sure he finds Dominic’s prostate, before slowly adding a second, and then a third.

“You okay?” he asks, pulling away from their kiss for long enough to form words. Dominic just gives him a jerky nod and connects their lips together again, then one of his hands reaches down to once again grab hold of the small lube bottle, and a moment later Hal feels Dominic’s lubed fingers reach around to push his hand away before wrapping themselves around Hal’s cock, and Hal gasps as Dominic lifts himself up on his knees, positions himself just right, and slowly, carefully lets himself sink down onto Hal’s hard length.

A deep moan escapes Hal’s lips as he feels Dominic’s hot tightness descend around him, and Dominic brings both of his hands up to cup his face as he deepens the kiss, tongue exploring the inside of Hal’s mouth. It feels like Dominic is _everywhere,_ all around him, and Hal almost loses himself in the sensation of it. Dominic sits perfectly still in his lap for a long, drawn out moment, then he slowly, hesitantly starts rocking his hips against Hal, drawing another low, broken moan from his mouth.

“Does that feel good?” Dominic asks breathlessly against his lips, and this time it’s Hal’s turn to only give a quick, hasty nod as he doesn’t seem to be able to form a coherent sentence. Dominic continues his rhythmic rocking motions against him, letting out a soft sigh as he adjusts his angle the tiniest bit to allow Hal’s erection to brush against his prostate, and one of Dominic’s hands falls away from his face to wrap around his own hard cock.

Hal’s eyes widen when he realises that Dominic has gone completely untouched up until this point, and he adjusts his own position to free up a hand to replace Dominic’s, wrapping his fingers around him and matching the slow, gentle rhythm Dominic has built between them. For a long time, their moans, sighs and whimpers and the steady rumble and splash of the waves against the cliff wall are the only sounds echoing around the cave, until out of nowhere, a phone starts ringing somewhere to their right, and Hal feels Dominic’s quiet laughter against his mouth.

“Shit, sorry,” Dominic says breathlessly, turning his head away to look for the offending item. “Should’ve put that on silent.”

“That might have been a good idea, yeah,” Hal agrees, a smile on his face as he watches Dominic, eyes roaming across the blanket while he keeps rolling his hips against Hal like he doesn’t know how to stop the movement. When he eventually locates his phone in the pocket of his discarded trousers, he lifts it up to look at the screen, and a frown spreads across his face as he finally slows to a stop.

“I’m sorry, Hal, but I’ve got to take this,” he says quickly, before clearing his throat and pressing the button to accept the call. “Hello?” he says into the phone speaker, voice surprisingly steady if ever so slightly breathless. “Adrian?”

“Sir,” Hal’s acute hearing picks up a man’s voice through the speaker. “I’m sorry to call you on a Sunday, I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

“Not at all,” Dominic says calmly. A big smile spreads across Hal’s face as he looks at Dominic, sitting on his lap in a _very_ compromising position, talking to his work colleague like he is just having his afternoon tea.

“Thank you, sir,” the man – Adrian – continues. “We have a bit of a… situation, at the Archive. Joseph has just brought in a group of Type 2s that were affected by the latest attack in Yorkshire. He thought it would be best to keep them all in custody for a while until we have established exactly what happened.”

Dominic frowns. “That’s not our usual way of working,” he says. “What’s so special about these Type 2s?”

“Well, you see, sir,” Adrian says, “They’re…” he pauses, then adds, “They’re children, sir.”

Dominic’s frown deepens. “Children? You mean the group of child Type 2s we have been monitoring in that area?”

“Yes, sir, the very same,” Adrian confirms. “But the thing is, we don’t have enough cells for them.”

“Cells?” Dominic asks. “What do you mean, cells?”

“To lock them away, sir?” Adrian says, and Dominic shakes his head.

“We’re not locking children away in cells, Adrian. Is the mother with them?”

“She was, sir, but we separated them for her own safet—”

“Take her back to them, and give each of them a flask from the blood storage fridge. Then take them all to the Type 3 block. Put some of the spare beds into one of the rooms and let them get comfortable. They’ve just been attacked, the last thing they need is solitary confinement.”

“But sir—” Adrian starts, then seems to think better of questioning his superior and instead says, “Of course, sir.”

“Thank you, Adrian. I trust you’ve got it all in hand otherwise?” Dominic asks, gaze flicking down to where Hal’s hand has halted its movement on Dominic’s cock. Hal’s eyes widen and he lifts his eyebrows at him. Dominic smiles back at him and winks.

“Yes, sir,” Adrian says. “Thank you. See you tomorrow, sir, and sorry again for bothering you on your day off.”

“Not at all, Adrian,” Dominic says again, eyes firmly trained on Hal’s as he finishes up the call. “See you tomorrow.” With a swift press of the disconnect button, Dominic drops the phone onto the blanket before bringing both of his arms back around Hal’s neck.

“I didn't realise you've restarted the blood donation programme,” Hal says, a flash of hunger stirring inside of him at the thought.

Dominic gives him an intense look. “We have indeed. It was a silly idea to ever stop it in the first place.” Dominic’s fingers run through Hal’s hair as he leans in close, too close to still look into his eyes, noses brushing against each other as Dominic shifts very slightly in his lap, letting out a soft sigh. “Now, where were we?” he asks before lightly brushing his lips against Hal’s and setting his hips in motion to slowly take up their rhythm again. Hal moans at the renewed friction against his erection, and his own hand restarts its movement on Dominic’s cock, eliciting a quiet moan from the other man.

Hal’s lips become more frantic against Dominic’s as he feels himself quickly getting overwhelmed once more by the feeling of Dominic all around him, and before he knows it, he gently pulls Dominic’s bottom lip into his mouth, between his teeth, and…

The sudden, unexpected taste of blood on his tongue hits him like a steam train, and he groans loudly, senses going into overdrive as he savours the few drops of red liquid he manages to lick off Dominic’s lip. Dominic’s arms are still firmly wrapped around his neck, and one of his hands now reaches up to guide Hal’s head down, away from his mouth, into the crook of his neck.

“Please, Hal,” he pants, never stopping the rhythmic movement of his hips, “I want you to.”

And Hal finds that he just can’t fight it anymore. Can’t. Doesn’t want to. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is the warm, fresh blood pulsing under his lips, and it’s so easy, so easy to just…

His fangs pierce Dominic’s skin, and he can hear a sharp intake of breath, followed by a soft, keening whimper as he starts to suck the sweet liquid into his mouth. It hits his tongue and he swallows, eyes slipping closed at the incredible feeling of the blood running down his throat, making him buzz, making him glow inside.

“Oh, Hal,” Dominic moans. “Mmmh… I’ve missed this…”

 _Not nearly as much as I have,_ Hal thinks faintly, his thoughts going fuzzy as he swallows and swallows the gushes of red that enter his mouth. He is vaguely aware of his hand on Dominic’s cock, moving almost on autopilot now, of Dominic’s whimpers getting louder and more urgent and his movements becoming erratic before he shoots his load into the small space between them. His sphincter clenches almost painfully around Hal, who pulls away from Dominic’s neck, a trickle of blood running down his chin and a loud groan escaping his mouth as he feels his own orgasm build, and a moment later he comes deep inside of Dominic.

They are both panting heavily at this point, Dominic’s arms holding on to Hal’s neck for dear life, and Hal licking the stray drops of blood from his lips as he feels the blood rush take a firm hold of him. After what feels like a small eternity, Dominic shifts and lies down, pulling Hal with him, and somehow they end up with Hal lying behind him, spooning against him and leaning in to lick the slow twin trickle of blood away form the two small puncture marks in his neck. The marks that are his again now. Not Carl’s. No one else’s but his.

“Mine,” he whispers against Dominic’s neck, making goosebumps rise on the man’s fair skin.

“Always,” Dominic replies sleepily, fingers intertwining with Hal’s against his flat stomach.

Hal can feel himself drifting off, the blood rush making him feel drowsy and boneless, and he lets his head fall away from Dominic’s neck, tucking his face into the back of his neck and pressing a gentle kiss against his skin. Dominic gives out a content hum, hand tightening around his own, and they lie in silence for a few long, blissful minutes, before the sound of Dominic’s stomach rumbling loudly interrupts the silence.

Hal chuckles quietly, and his hand brushes up and down Dominic’s stomach. “You should eat something.”

“‘M not hungry,” Dominic mumbles, sounding half asleep, and Hal lets out a small laugh.

“I think your body is disagreeing with you.”

“Mmmh,” Dominic replies. “Guess you’re right. But I don’t want to get up yet.”

With a sigh, Hal reluctantly heaves himself into a sitting position and reaches out to pull the picnic basket towards him, peering inside. “Did you say there was cake?” he asks, and Dominic nods.

“Chocolate cake,” he clarifies, just as Hal finds said chocolate cake and lifts it out of the basket.

“I think you should have some,” Hal says then, cutting off a slice and placing it on one of the side plates. He moves around Dominic and sits down on his other side, facing him, a hand stroking through his soft blond hair as Dominic’s eyes lift up to meet his.

“You’re not going to rest until I’ve had some cake, are you?” Dominic asks with a small, exasperated smile. Just at that moment, his stomach rumbles again, and Hal shakes his head.

“No. Absolutely not,” he confirms, then smiles and adds, “And it’s my birthday cake, so I get to decide.”

Dominic slowly pulls himself up into a sitting position, eyeing the cake in Hal’s hand sceptically before giving Hal a significant look. “You’re right,” he says. “It’s _your_ birthday cake, Hal. Which means _you_ should have some.”

Hal looks back at him steadily. “I’ve… already had my dessert,” he says slowly, savouring the blush that creeps into Dominic’s cheeks, now that his hunger has been sated.

“I guess you have,” Dominic says quietly. Then his eyes fall back on the cake in Hal’s hand, and he says, “Okay, let me try some of that cake, then.”

Hal gives him a bright smile and cuts off a small piece of the gooey chocolate cake, then brings the spoon up directly to Dominic’s mouth. Dominic grins at him as he takes the cake off the spoon.

“How is it?” Hal asks, watching as Dominic chews and swallows.

“It’s delicious," Dominic replies with a smile, and almost immediately, Hal is there with another spoonful of cake, which Dominic gratefully takes off the spoon. They continue like this until the whole slice of cake is gone, and as soon as he has swallowed the last mouthful, Dominic leans in and presses an open-mouthed, chocolatey kiss to Hal’s lips. “Isn’t it?” he asks after a long moment, and it takes Hal almost as long to remember the first part of the sentence.

“Not as delicious as you,” he blurts out, blood rush clearly loosening his tongue, and almost immediately, Dominic tenses and pulls away, giving him a thoughtful look.

“Hal,” he starts in a serious tone, and Hal inwardly kicks himself for having said what he did. All he wanted was to enjoy the feeling of the blood rush for a little while longer before thinking of the consequences.

“Dominic,” he says before he can stop himself, and Dominic’s bright blue eyes pierce into him. “Please, I… let’s think about that later, okay? For now…” he pauses and takes a deep breath, then lifts one hand to the back of Dominic’s head, pulling him back towards him. “For now, let’s just enjoy this moment, all right? We’ll have to go back to the real world soon enough.”

Dominic sighs, but nods. “You’re right,” he says, and brushes his lips against Hal’s again in a slow, gentle kiss. It might be the blood rush affecting him, Hal thinks, but whatever the reason, he completely loses track of time of how long they have been kissing for when, once again, the silence is broken by Dominic’s phone ringing loudly, and Dominic pulls away from him with a frustrated sigh. “Can’t a man have _one_ uninterrupted day away with his boyfriend nowadays?” he mutters under his breath, and Hal smiles.

“Apparently not,” he replies, and Dominic shoots him a narrow-eyed glare. “Hey, don’t make me responsible, I haven’t asked these people to call.”

“I know,” Dominic says with a sigh, frowning as he looks at the phone screen.

“Work again?” Hal asks, and Dominic shakes his head.

“Withheld number,” he says, a hint of apprehension in his voice, and Hal remembers the last phone call Dominic received from a withheld number.

 _No nosebleed this time,_ he thinks, eyeing Dominic closely as he lifts the phone to his ear.

“Hello?”

“Is this Mr Dominic Rook?” a female voice asks on the other end.

“Yes,” Dominic confirms.

“I am calling from Gwynedd Hospital in Bangor,” the female voice continues. “Our records show you as the listed next of kin for a Mrs Geraldine Rook?”

Dominic blanches. “Yes,” he says, sounding slightly breathless. “She’s… she’s my grandmother.”

“Well, I’m sorry, Mr Rook,” the woman says, “but I’m afraid your grandmother is very unwell. She came into hospital a couple of days ago, and in that time, she has asked for you quite a few times. I think… if you wanted to see her again, this might be your time.”

“Of course,” Dominic says quietly, eyes on the floor. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Thank you, Mr Rook,” the woman says. “And I’m sorry.”

“No, I… thank you for letting me know,” Dominic replies, then ends the call. His hand holding the phone drops down into his lap, and his bright blue eyes stare off into the distance for a long moment. “I guess I’ll be driving to Bangor,” he says faintly, and finally looks back up at Hal again.

“I didn’t even know your grandmother was still alive,” Hal says somewhat guiltily, and Dominic gives him a small, sad smile.

“We lost touch after I moved to Cardiff. My father… didn’t want her involved in my upbringing, said she was too soft on me, that she was going to turn me into a sissy.” He lets out a harsh laugh. “See how that turned out.”

“Dominic—”

“No, Hal, it’s okay,” Dominic cuts in. “I’m quite comfortable with who I am, really.”

“Good,” Hal says, cupping Dominic’s cheek in his hand and giving him one more firm kiss before pulling away. “I guess we should probably head back,” he adds, and Dominic gives him a small nod.

The next few minutes are a bit of a blur for Hal, who is still firmly in the hold of the blood rush, while they both stumble around to gather their clothes, put the food away in the picnic basket, and fold up the blanket. Before he knows it, Hal finds himself back in the passenger seat of the blue Mercedes, his eyelids getting heavy as he allows the soothing movement of the car to slowly lull him to sleep. Dominic’s hand lightly brushes against his thigh.

“Happy birthday,” he hears Dominic’s quiet voice, and he smiles but finds that he can’t bring up the energy to form actual words, content to listen to the calm rumble of the engine as Leo’s old car takes them ever closer towards Barry.


	27. The Real World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, guys :)

You cut away the disease  
You pure the air that I breathe  
You came and healed my disease again  
Now the light comes shining in

\- Feeder, “Emily”

Dominic’s eyes keep flicking back to the figure of Hal, blissfully asleep in the passenger seat of the baby blue Mercedes, a rosy hue to his cheeks that makes him look healthier than Dominic has seen him for a long time. The dull, rhythmic pulsing of the two small wounds in his neck acts like a constant reminder of how it got there, and Dominic finds himself torn between feelings of relief, elation and guilt, cycling through his head at a dizzying speed.

Focusing his eyes back on the road, he drives them through the town centre and up the hill towards the B&B, parking as close to the entrance as possible as he is not sure how steady Hal is going to be on his feet. He stops the car and kills the engine, but still Hal doesn’t stir. Dominic reaches out to gently touch his shoulder.

“Hal,” he says quietly, then runs his fingers up the side of Hal’s neck to his face, thumb rubbing over the surprisingly warm skin of his cheek. Hal’s brow furrows slightly, the only sign that he may have heard him. “Hal,” he says again, a little bit louder, and this time Hal responds with a quiet hum. “We’re home,” Dominic adds with another brush of his thumb across Hal’s cheek.

Hal’s eyes flutter open, glassy and unfocused as they gaze into Dominic’s. “Don’t wanna get up,” he mumbles. “’S nice here.”

Dominic chuckles. “Hal, you’re in the car. I can’t very well leave you out here.”

The furrow in Hal’s brow deepens. “But you’re here,” he points out, a hand blindly reaching out to brush against Dominic’s thigh, and a moment later adds, “In there’s just Alex and Tom, and I don’t wanna see them right now.”

A leaden weight drops into Dominic’s stomach when he thinks about their two housemates. Quite how he managed to avoid that thought up until now, he is not sure, but the fact remains that they won’t be able to hide the undeniable evidence of what transpired in the cave from them.

“We’ll have to tell them,” he gives voice to his thoughts, and Hal groans.

“I can’t face that again, Dominic,” he says, sounding slightly more awake than before.

Dominic sighs. “I’m sorry, Hal, but I’m not prepared to lie to them again. Do you need me to remind you of what happened last time?” He shakes his head and lets his gaze wander up to the house. “No, I don’t think we have a choice but to be upfront and honest.”

“They’re going to throw us out,” Hal says gloomily, following Dominic’s gaze towards the house.

“If that’s what they feel they need to do, then let them,” Dominic replies with a small frown. “We can move into my flat. But if I’m completely honest, I don’t think they will.”

Hal is silent for a long moment, and Dominic glances back towards him, finding him looking at him with a surprisingly focused and thoughtful expression on his face. “I’m not going back in the chair,” he says.

Dominic’s frown deepens. “Of course not.”

“Well, what else do you think they’re going to suggest?” Hal asks with a huff.

Shaking his head vehemently, Dominic says, “I’m not going to see you back in that chair, Hal. It didn’t work before, it’s not going to work now.” He pauses, swallows, and says, “No, I think we will have to revisit the flasks.”

Dominic doesn’t miss the quick flash of hunger in Hal’s eyes at his words, or the slight huskiness of his voice when he says, “I agree.”

Giving a firm nod, Dominic opens his seatbelt and takes the key out of the ignition. “That’s decided then.” He opens the driver’s side door and swiftly gets out and walks around to the other side, opening Hal’s door for him and giving him a hand up to get out of the car. Just as he expected, Hal sways slightly on his feet, and he keeps an inconspicuous hand at the small of his back to guide him up the path to the front door. As soon as he opens the inner porch door, he can hear Tom’s and Alex’s voices drifting over from the living room.

“Yes, but are you seriously telling me you’ve never even smoked weed?” Alex is asking.

“No,” Tom replies immediately, sounding affronted. “McNair used to say that it was a stupid an’ dangerous thing to do, ‘cause it dulls yer senses like and makes ya more vulnerable to be attacked by vampires.”

Alex lets out a frustrated groan. “Why does everything you ever learned have to be something to do with fucking vampires?”

“Because we used to hunt ‘em, Alex! That’s what we did for a livin’, see. And McNair said it was important to always be prepared an’—” he cuts off abruptly as his eyes come up to meet Dominic’s across the room, standing in the doorway with one hand firmly around Hal’s waist to keep him steady.

“Oh, hey,” Alex voice drifts over. “Good to see you made it back, and that you didn’t break down or were… eaten by sea monsters or something.”

Dominic can’t help the small laugh that escapes his lips despite his nerves. “Sea monsters?”

“Yeah, you know?” Alex says. “Never believed Nessie was real either until your boyfriend there told me that it actually was. Anyway, I take it you guys had a good…” she trails off, and Dominic is overcome by a sudden sense of dread as he can all but feel the ghost’s eyes darting from him to Hal and back to him, putting the pieces together. “Oh,” she says in a voice that is filled with nothing but quiet disappointment. “Well, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“Surprised ‘bout what?” Tom asks, glancing at Alex before giving him and Hal another, closer look. Dominic can see the exact moment the werewolf’s eyes fall on the blatantly visible marks on his neck, the way his expression changes within seconds from confusion to disappointment to revulsion. “I can’t believe this,” he spits out, an ugly grimace on his face, before he jumps up off the sofa and all but runs from the room.

“Tom!” Hal and Alex call in unison, but the werewolf doesn’t turn back, doesn’t respond at all, and a moment later they can hear his thundering footsteps on the stairs.

Hal lets out a deep sigh next to him. “Didn’t I tell you,” he says, and Dominic tightens his arm around him as he wordlessly leads him over to the corner sofa, sitting down and throwing an apprehensive glance in Alex’s direction. He has never in his life wished for anything as much as being able to see the ghost’s face in this moment.

After a minute of uncomfortable silence, Alex clears her throat and says, “So, back to square one, huh?”

“I’m not—” Hal starts, just as Dominic says, “Not exactly.”

“What do you mean, not exactly?” Alex asks. “Looks very much like it to me.”

Dominic sighs and says, “We’re not just going to repeat the whole thing over and over again, Alex. I’m going to get some flasks from the Archive, and… we’ll take it from there.” Hal nods next to him, and Dominic finds himself hopelessly distracted for a moment when Hal’s hand comes around the back of the sofa and starts caressing the nape of his neck. “Hal,” he says, throwing him a warning look.

Hal gives him a bright smile in return. “What?”

Dominic lifts his eyebrows at him. “Not the time,” he says pointedly, and Hal huffs and removes his hand.

Alex heaves a deep sigh and, completely ignoring their brief interaction, says, “Even if you’re right and this is the solution – and remember that I actually agreed with you on this before, Dominic – how do we make sure that you’re not going to wind up dead again?”

Hal’s eyes snap up to her sharply, then flick towards Dominic, who gives him a small, reassuring smile.

“They’re not going to kill me,” Dominic says, and there is a moment of absolute silence following his words, until Hal snorts loudly.

“ _We’re_ not going to kill you?” he says, shaking his head. “You obviously underestimate—”

“No, Hal, listen,” Dominic interrupts him. “You said it yourself earlier. He protected me from you. And I’m sure you would do the same if it was his turn. So no, I’m not worried. We’re all going to be fine.”

“Wow, this conversation got very weird very quickly,” Alex throws in, and Dominic lets out a small laugh.

“Sorry. I forget that you may not have got your head around this whole thing quite as much as I have.”

“Yeah, that’s a bit of an understatement,” Alex agrees. “But anyway, flasks… And you think… you think that’s going to be enough?”

“Well,” Hal throws in, and Dominic’s eyes dart across to him to find him looking back at him with a hungry glint in his eye. He lifts a hand to Dominic’s neck, lightly brushing over the freshly scabbed puncture marks, and Dominic can’t suppress a small shiver at the unexpected touch. “Might go for the occasional top-up.”

“Hal—” Alex starts, just as Dominic’s eyes widen and he clears his throat loudly.

“Please excuse him, Alex,” he says, eyes fixed pointedly on Hal. “He’s drunk.” Hal winks and gives him another bright smile, and Dominic shakes his head and looks over towards Alex. “What he meant to say is, yes, of course the flasks are going to be enough. I will make sure he has an uninterrupted supply, from a number of different donors. I’m sure we can make it work.”

Alex lets out another deep sigh and says, “Okay, fine. I trust that you know what you’re doing, Dominic. But don’t let it be said that I didn’t warn you.”

“Acknowledged,” Dominic says with a small smile in her direction.

Hal, meanwhile, leans closer to him on the sofa. “So you’re saying I can’t have any more of this?” he asks, nuzzling into the crook of Dominic’s neck, and Dominic almost instinctively ducks out of his way.

“No, Hal, you can’t,” he replies seriously, a small frown on his face as he takes in Hal’s crestfallen expression. “I really don’t think…” he drifts off, eyes flicking towards Alex. “You know what? I think you should probably go upstairs and take a nap while I have a chat with Alex, okay?”

“Don’t treat me like a fucking child,” Hal snaps, a dark look flashing in his eyes. “And anyway, I’m not sure I should risk being up there by myself, dog might sneak in and try and stake me in my sleep.”

“Hal!” Dominic and Alex exclaim simultaneously.

“What?” Hal asks, eyes darting between the two of them.

“Please don’t talk about Tom like that,” Dominic says, and Hal huffs and shakes his head.

“He gets like that when he’s drunk,” Alex throws in with a sigh. “From what I remember, it turns him into a complete jerk.”

Dominic frowns. “Really? I’ve never noticed that before.”

He looks over at Hal, who gives him a bright, flirtatious smile, then leans in close to his ear and says, “That’s because I also get horny when I’m drunk. Lucky for you, I’ve already had one good fuck today. And let me tell you,” he adds, louder, looking over at Alex while throwing an arm around Dominic’s shoulders, “it was a truly magnificent fuck.”

“That’s… good to know,” Alex says hesitantly, and Dominic wishes for the ground to open up and swallow him whole.

“Right,” he says loudly. “Time for you to go upstairs.” He disentangles himself from Hal, who gives him a look halfway between kicked puppy and undressing him with his eyes, and stands up before holding his hand out to Hal.

“Round two?” Hal asks with a smile as he grasps Dominic’s hand and allows him to pull him to his feet.

Dominic scoffs, “Hardly.”

“But why not?” Hal continues, swaying slightly on his feet, and Dominic moves his arm around his waist once again to steady him. Once he has found his balance, Hal throws a furtive look over his shoulder towards Alex, who remains sitting on the sofa, and adds, “You could join in if you want.”

“Er...” Alex starts, then breaks off, clearly at a loss for words.

“Most definitely not,” Dominic says, eyes wide and cheeks burning scarlet.

Hal’s brow furrows. “Oh, so it’s all right for _you_ to have a threesome…”

“That’s really quite enough, Hal,” Dominic says forcefully, shepherding the drunk vampire into the hallway and up the stairs. He throws their bedroom door open with his free hand and guides Hal inside, over to the bed, where Hal flops down immediately, not even bothering to take off his clothes. Dominic gives him a fondly exasperated smile as he at least pulls off his shoes and socks and helps him out of his trousers before he tucks him into the duvet.

“Join me?” Hal asks sleepily, eyes half closed as his hand flies out to grab Dominic’s wrist.

“No, Hal. You go have a nap, I’ll go back downstairs to speak to Alex.”

Hal sighs, but after a short moment nods and lets go of his wrist. “Fine,” he mumbles, eyes closing, and before Dominic has even left the room, he hears Hal’s breathing evening out as he drifts off to sleep.

He quietly shuts the door behind him, then looks up in surprise when he notices Tom standing in the hallway, throwing him a dark look.

“I knew I shouldn’t of trusted ‘im,” Tom says, shaking his head. “At the end of the day, they’re all the same. Can’t control themselves, none of ’em.”

Dominic sighs. “Please don’t give him too hard a time, Tom,” he says, facing the werewolf. “It wasn’t… just… his fault.”

Tom’s frown deepens. “What do you mean?”

Dominic swallows and says, “I mean that I… had my own part to play in what happened. He’s not to blame, Tom. Or at least not any more than I am.”

“You mean you _wanted_ him to do it?” Tom asks, eyebrows drawn together and disgust creeping into his voice. Dominic averts his eyes.

“Yes, Tom. That’s exactly what I mean.”

He can feel Tom’s eyes on him, hard and accusing, but the werewolf doesn’t say anything more, and a heavy silence falls over them.

“Listen, Tom, I know you don’t approve of—”

“Just don’t,” Tom cuts in scathingly, and before Dominic has a chance to speak again, Tom turns on his heels and takes a few quick strides back into his room, slamming the door shut behind him.

Dominic lets out a deep breath he hadn’t realised he was holding, and makes his own way back downstairs and into the living room, where he can still sense Alex’s presence sitting on the sofa. He takes a seat across from her and slowly lifts his eyes in her direction.

“Sorry about that,” he says, and he can already feel the blush rising back into his face.

Alex barks out a short laugh. “Yeah, erm… the less said about that, the better, I think.”

Dominic can’t help the quiet laugh that escapes his own lips despite his embarrassment. “Indeed.” After a short moment of silence, he adds, “I’m sure he’ll get better as he adjusts to having it again.”

“I hope you’re right,” Alex replies with another quiet laugh, then continues in a more serious tone, “I overheard what you said to Tom just now. That it was your fault as much as his.”

Dominic swallows and nods. “You know I…” he trails off, shaking his head, unsure he can actually say the words.

“I know you like it, yeah,” Alex finishes for him. “But, Dominic… all the work we put into rehabilitating him, all the long days he spent in that chair – and you really thought it was a good idea to throw all of that away just for… what? A more satisfying shag?”

Dominic feels the tips of his ears go red. “No, Alex, that’s not…” He takes a deep breath. “It’s not as simple as that.” His hand comes up to rub over the two small scabs on his neck almost reflexively, and he shivers as a tingle runs down his spine. How can he possibly describe to her what it does to him, how it affects him, when he barely understands it himself?

 _Classical conditioning,_ the scientific part of himself chimes in, _just like Pavlov’s dogs._ Dominic lets out a small huff. Yes, technically he knows that’s what it is, but it feels like so much _more_ than that.

“You mean what you said to him though, don’t you?” Alex asks, and Dominic has to think for a moment to remember what exactly she is referring to.

“Yes,” he says eventually, nodding emphatically. “I know we can’t repeat what we did last time… as much as I might want to.” He averts his eyes at the last bit, a strong feeling of shame overcoming him for having been so weak.

“Good,” Alex says. “At least you haven’t lost your senses completely.”

He gives her a small, humourless laugh. “No. I’ll… do what I can to make sure we keep it to a minimum. I’m sure once Hal is back to himself he will agree.”

***

Dominic walks down the bleak concrete corridors of the Archive with quick, determined steps. He hadn’t originally planned to come in at all today, as he should really be on the road to Bangor by now, but the recent change in circumstances called for a change of plans, so here he is.

“Mr Rook, sir,” Mike’s voice echoes down the corridor, and Dominic looks up to find the tall man walking towards him with a concerned expression on his face. “We’re so glad you could make it after all. I think everyone is a little bit in over their heads, to be completely honest, sir.”

Dominic frowns. “In what way?”

“The Type 2s, sir,” Mike says, dropping his voice to a near whisper. “I think they are making everyone a little bit… uneasy, if you get my meaning.”

“Not entirely, Mike,” Dominic says truthfully. “But why don’t you take me to them, so I can get an idea of what has been going on.”

“Of course, sir,” Mike says immediately. “This way.”

Dominic follows the taller man down the corridor, into the Type 3 block, before they come to a halt in front of what used to be Bobby’s room.

“They’re in here, sir.”

“And the mother is still with them?” Dominic asks.

Mike nods. “Yes, sir. Although, with all due respect, isn’t it an unnecessary risk to expose her to them like that?”

“Well, they didn’t kill her for the last four years,” Dominic points out, raising his eyebrows at the man. “Why should they suddenly do it now?”

Mike’s brow furrows as he contemplates Dominic’s words. “I suppose you’re right, sir,” he says eventually.

Dominic gives him a small smile and a nod, before he carefully knocks on the door and steps into the room. Immediately, his eyes fall on a group of five children sitting across two beds at the back of the room. They seem deep in conversation about something when he enters, but as soon as they notice the new presence in the room, they fall silent, and five pairs of eyes dart over towards him, staring at him with a combination of curiosity and trepidation.

“I take it you’re Mr Rook,” a female voice speaks up from his left, and Dominic turns to come face to face with a brunette woman in her late forties, sitting at a small table clutching an empty mug between her hands and giving Dominic a slightly suspicious look.

“I am indeed,” he confirms with a small smile, crossing the room in the direction of the table.

“I’m Fleur,” the woman says, holding a hand out to him, and he gives it a firm shake.

“Nice to meet you, Fleur.” His eyes are drawn back to the empty mug in her hand, and he asks, “Would you like another cup of tea?”

This draws a smile from Fleur, who nods and says, “I’d love one, thanks.”

She holds out the mug to Dominic, who takes it and, with another smile and a “Be right back,” leaves the room in the direction of the staff kitchen. He prepares two mugs of tea and carries them back to the Type 3 block. By the time he reenters the room, the children have taken up their conversation again, and the noise level in the room has picked up considerably, with the occasional giggle or chortle thrown in for good measure. He places one of the mugs down in front of Fleur and takes a seat across from her.

“Now, Fleur,” he says, looking across the table to where the woman is once again giving him a slightly uncertain look. “I hope you have all settled in all right?”

She sighs. “As well as could be expected, I suppose. It was… a big shock to everyone, what happened.” Her eyes dart over to the group of children, and Dominic’s gaze follows hers to take in the five young vampires, who are not paying the two adults in the room any attention as they group around one slightly older boy, who is gesticulating wildly as he seems to be telling the others a story.

“I can understand that,” he says, looking back at Fleur. “Two of them were killed?” he asks, and she sighs and nods.

“Two boys, Connor and Charlie. I… still don’t really understand what happened. I didn’t see it coming at all. Suddenly Rosie – one of the girls – screamed something about a woman appearing in the room out of nowhere… I couldn’t see or hear a thing... and the next moment, Connor was… gone, staked.” She gives a violent shake of her head, and tries unsuccessfully to hide a small sob behind her closed fist.

“That must have been horrible to witness,” Dominic says. A sudden image of Hal, disintegrating under his fingers, flashes before his minds eye, and he shudders.

“I never saw it coming,” Fleur continues. “Next thing I knew, Charlie, one of the other boys, went to fight her off… said he wanted to give the rest of us a chance to get away, and… she killed him as well.”

“I’m very sorry for your loss,” Dominic says with a sympathetic smile, and Fleur’s brow furrows.

“You’re… different from your colleagues,” she says, lifting the mug to her lips to take a large sip of tea.

“Different how?” Dominic asks.

She gives him a sad little smile. “You don’t treat them like monsters.”

He looks straight back at her for a long time, this human woman who has devoted her life to looking after an ever growing group of immortal children, who has changed careers and overcome her fear of blood to provide for them. Then he drops his gaze down to his mug and says, “No, I suppose I don’t.”

Fleur is silent for a long moment, and Dominic can feel her eyes on him as he takes a sip of his tea. “Who is it?” she asks eventually, and his eyes snap up to meet hers.

“Who is what?”

“The vampire in your life,” she says steadily, never taking her eyes off him. “The one you care about.”

Dominic looks at her sharply. “What makes you think…?” he starts, but at seeing the weary expression on her face, he sighs and, in a voice that is barely above a whisper, says, “My boyfriend.”

Her eyes widen fractionally for a moment, the only sign of her surprise at his admission, before she catches herself, nods and says. “I see.”

Dominic, slowly realising what sensitive and confidential information he has just divulged to an almost complete stranger, clears his throat and says, “Fleur, listen… I think it’s probably best if you don’t talk about… what I just told you.”

She gives him a tired smile. “Of course not, Mr Rook.”

“Dominic,” he says, smiling back at her. “And thank you.”

They sit in silence for a long while, both busying themselves with drinking their tea, before Fleur puts her mug down and looks over at Dominic once more.

“What… what was that thing, Dominic?” she asks. “Your colleague said that the description sounds most like a… ’Type 1’? What does that even mean?”

“A ghost,” Dominic says, and Fleur’s eyes widen.

“I didn’t even realise ghosts actually existed,” she says, shaking her head and letting out a mirthless laugh. “I guess, if vampires are real, it’s not too much of a surprise, but… hell, next thing I know, you’re going to tell me there are werewolves, too.”

Dominic gives her a small smile. “There are werewolves, too.”

Her eyebrows shoot up. “What, seriously?”

“Yes,” he confirms with a nod, then lets his eyes wander around the room. “As a matter of fact, this very room used to be inhabited by a werewolf.”

Fleur’s gaze follows his, taking in the old football posters that are still plastered all over the wall, and then the sturdy metal cage in one corner.

“Why did he live here?” she asks a moment later, eyes piercing into Dominic.

He looks back at her steadily and says, “He killed his family when he was only a boy. We brought him here to keep him safe.”

Fleur huffs. “A bit like us then.”

“I suppose so,” Dominic says. “Although your kids haven’t harmed anyone… as far as we’re aware.” He gives her a questioning look, and she shakes her head.

“They haven’t. I… make sure that they are always fed. That they don’t get too overwhelmed by the… the feeling of…”

“The bloodlust?” Dominic suggests, and she nods.

“Yes. Sorry, I still after four years sometimes struggle to believe this is actually happening. I mean, Bernie… he should be sixteen this year. And look at him, he’s not a day older than he was when he… when I said goodbye to him. In the mortuary.”

She shakes her head again, and Dominic lets his gaze wander over to the group of children, lingering on the boy he recognises as Bernie, the first one, Fleur’s biological son. He is sitting next to a young girl with long ginger hair and freckles, giggling at some joke she has just told him. For all the world, they just look like a group of normal, carefree children, and he marvels at the fact that Fleur has been able to keep them that way, to preserve their innocence and happiness in the face of this awful curse.

“You have done an amazing job with them,” he says, voicing his thoughts, and she snorts and rolls her eyes.

“I doubt it.”

“No, really,” he says, and suddenly, something in her eyes changes.

“I… Would you mind showing me to the bathroom, Dominic?” she asks, and there is an undertone in her voice that immediately tells him something is up.

“Of course,” he says, standing up and gesturing for her to follow him, out the door and along the empty corridor.

They have barely walked five steps before she holds out a hand to stop him and says, “There is something I needed to speak to you about… without them overhearing.” Her eyes dart back towards the heavy steel door. “And I’ve learned the hard way that their hearing is sharper than a bat’s.”

Dominic smiles at the comparison, but sobers up when he takes in Fleur’s serious expression. “What did you want to talk about?” he asks.

She heaves a deep sigh, looks straight into his eyes, and says, “I need to ask you a favour.”

***

Hal wakes up feeling more well-rested than he has done for months. He rolls over onto his side, eyes still closed against the rays of bright sunlight, expecting to find Dominic next to him. But all he finds is an empty pillow, and he stays there for a few more minutes, breathing in Dominic’s scent, a gentle tickle low in his stomach where raging hunger used to live.

Eventually, when the last remnants of sleep have finally fallen away from him, his eyes slowly open, only to fall on what he immediately recognises as a flask of blood propping up a handwritten note next to his phone on the bedside table. Hal sits up, and a smile forms on his lips as he unfolds the note and recognises Dominic’s tidy handwriting.

_Hal,_

_I’m sorry I left without saying goodbye, but you were sleeping like a baby, and I couldn’t bring myself to wake you up. When you read this, I’m probably already halfway across the Brecon Beacons on my way to Bangor._

_I left you a little something to tide you over—_

Hal’s eyes flick back to the small flask, and his smile grows.

_—and yes, it’s mine, but please don’t expect that to be the case all the time. I brought some more flasks back from the Archive and gave them to Alex to be locked away for now – just until we know how much you actually need._

_Also, because I didn’t really get the chance before, I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed yesterday (with the exception of you inviting Alex for a threesome – it’s probably best if we don’t talk about that again).—_

Hal chuckles at his somewhat hazy memory of their arrival back home, and the way in which the blood rush had put ideas into his head and loosened his treacherous tongue.

_—I guess what I’m trying to say is that I miss you already, even though right now you’re actually lying asleep right next to me. I hope to not take too long on this visit, and that I will be back with you very soon._

_Text me or call me when you get the chance. If I’m still driving, I will get back to you as soon as I get there._

_I love you._

_D xx_

Hal’s smile is so wide that his face almost splits in two by the time he gets to the bottom of the note. He carefully folds it up and puts it back on the bedside table, then picks up the flask and unscrews the top, holding it up to his nose to take a deep, appreciative sniff of Dominic’s blood before bringing it to his mouth.

The sweet red liquid flows onto his tongue and down his throat, washing away the deep, aching yearning in his gut that has been torturing him constantly for the last few months.

And just like that, everything is all right again.


	28. Mortality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for homophobic and vampire-phobic language in this chapter.
> 
> And... I'm so sorry.

Every day I pray I'm the first to go  
Without you I would be lost  
I promised myself I wouldn't talk about death  
I know I'm getting boring

\- Editors, “The Weight”

Dominic pulls into the hospital car park, turns off the engine and sits back in the driver’s seat, leaning his head back against the headrest and allowing his eyes to fall closed for a moment. While he didn’t encounter much traffic on his way, the four-and-a-half-hour journey to Bangor has still taken its toll on him. It doesn’t help that he has not had anything to eat since his hastily wolfed down breakfast, and it is well beyond lunchtime now.

Dominic reaches down to the cardboard travel cup in the cup holder, brings it to his mouth and grimaces at the unsavoury taste of stone cold tea. He quickly drops the cup back into the holder and reaches into his pocket, pulling his phone out and glancing at the screen. A smile settles on his face even as he rolls his eyes at the soppy text message waiting for him on the lock screen.

**Hey beautiful. I hope you had a good journey. Thank you for the snack, and I miss you too xx**

Dominic looks at the message for a long moment, and his smile turns slightly sentimental when he thinks about how much he has missed this side of Hal – the playful, romantic side that reminds him of when they first got together. He almost didn’t realise before quite how fundamentally Hal had changed since he went off the blood. And it may be the most selfish thing he has ever thought, Dominic muses, but he much prefers him this way.

Closing down the text message, he brings up his contact list and dials Hal’s number. It only rings once before the other picks up.

“Hey,” Hal’s voice sounds through the speaker. He sounds so relaxed and happy, Dominic, thinks, and it makes warmth spread in his chest.

“Hi,” he replies. “Thanks for your text. I just got here, so I thought I’d check in and see how you’ve been doing this morning.”

Hal chuckles lightly on the other end. “Better than I have been for a long time, thanks to you.”

Dominic smiles, and the two marks in his neck tingle pleasantly at the reminder. “I’m glad I could help.”

“You certainly have,” Hal replies. After a short pause, he adds, “How are _you_ feeling? I never even really got to… I’m sorry about your grandmother.”

Dominic sighs. “I’m okay. She’s… very old. And like I said, I haven’t really spoken to her since… since I was five years old, I think.”

A memory flashes across Dominic’s mind’s eye, as vividly as if it was yesterday.

_“You take care of yourself, won’t you, Dommy?” Grandma says, smiling down at him. “You’re a big boy now, aren’t you? Going to school?”_

_“But I wanna come stay with you in the holidays,” Dominic says, pouting slightly as his grandma’s brow furrows._

_“I don’t think that will be possible, Dom. You’re going to spend the holidays with your daddy.”_

_Dominic frowns. “But Daddy’s never even home!” he points out._

_Grandma looks back at him with big, sad eyes. “I’m sorry he doesn’t have a lot of time for you, Dommy. Maybe if you’ll ask him really nicely, he might take you to a football match sometime, hm? A Cardiff City match?”_

_Dominic smiles brightly. “That would be awesome.”_

_“That’s what I thought,” Grandma says, smiling back at him._

_“But Grandma,” Dominic continues, and his frown returns. “I could still do that_ and _stay with you during the holidays.”_

_Grandma sighs. “Really, I’m sorry, Dom, but your daddy wants to keep you in Cardiff for the holidays. Maybe I can come visit for a day, hm?”_

_Dominic looks at her for a long time, then nods and says, “Okay, Grandma.”_

_“And Dom?” Grandma continues, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small box. Dominic’s eyes are drawn to the box, and he watches as she opens it to reveal a small, gleaming silver cross on a thin silver chain. “I’d like you to have this,” she says, and Dominic’s eyes flick up to her face. “There are… horrible monsters out there, Dominic—”_

_“I know,” Dominic throws in, nodding fiercely and looking at her with big eyes. “And Daddy catches them and makes sure they don’t hurt anyone.”_

_Grandma gives him a small smile. “Well, be that as it may, I want you to be protected from them. So I would like you to always wear this, you hear me?”_

_She takes the small chain out of the box and opens it, holding it out and gesturing for Dominic to turn around. He can feel the cold metal of the cross making contact with his skin as she lays it around his neck._

_“There, finished,” she says, and he turns back around to her. “Very fetching,” she adds with a wink, and Dominic grins._

_He reaches up to hold the small cross between his fingers and pulls it away from his chest to have a look at it as best he can. It looks very small and harmless, and he frowns. “So this is going to protect me from the monsters?”_

_“Yes, Dommy,” Grandma says, reaching down to ruffle his hair before placing a gentle kiss on the top of his head. “It will do. Just… promise me you will always wear it, okay?”_

_Dominic looks back at her with all the sincerity of a five-year-old, nods and says, “I promise.”_

“Dominic?” Hal’s voice cuts through the memory, and Dominic gives himself a little shake.

“I’m sorry,” he says quickly. “I got… lost in thought.”

“Thinking about your grandmother?” Hal guesses, and Dominic nods.

“Yes. I was remembering the last time I saw her, when she gave me that cross.”

“Ah, yes,” Hal says with a smile in his voice. “The one that was meant to protect you from me.”

“Not you,” Dominic says seriously. “The ones that might actually try to harm me.”

Hal gives a quiet laugh. “Hmm, fair enough. But anyway, I shouldn’t keep you any longer. You go and see her, okay? I’ll speak to you later.”

“Thanks,” Dominic says. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” Hal replies in a heartbeat, and Dominic smiles.

He ends the call and gets out of the car, making his way to the main entrance of the hospital. There is a map next to the entrance door, and he quickly finds the ward the nurse had said his grandmother is on.

As he walks past the hospital restaurant, his stomach rumbles loudly, and Dominic, in a split-second decision, turns off into the restaurant and buys himself a sandwich and a fresh cup of tea, taking a seat at an empty table by a window.

Biting into his sandwich, Dominic’s thoughts once again begin to wander, this time to his conversation with Fleur the previous day.

_“I need to ask you a favour,” she says, looking at him with a serious expression on her face._

_Dominic frowns, but nods. “What do you need?”_

_“I…” she stops, heaves a big sigh, then starts again, “I saw my doctor, a few weeks ago. There’s…” she trails off again, averts her eyes._

_Dominic gives her some time to collect her thoughts and continue, but when she doesn’t, he asks, “What did the doctor say, Fleur?”_

_She lets out a humourless laugh, and her eyes meet his again. “There’s a lump in my breast. He says… he says even if they operate on it, it’s already spread to the lymph nodes, so there’s every chance it’s gone further.”_

_“I’m very sorry to hear that,” Dominic says, and Fleur gives him a small, sad smile._

_“Yeah. Thanks. I’ve…” she trails off again, takes a deep breath. “I’ve kind of made my peace with it, for myself. I just… I need to know that the kids are going to be looked after, you know?”_

_Dominic nods. “I understand.”_

_“When Mitchell… when he first… turned… Bernie, he said that he would always be looked after by the other vampires,” she continues, and her brow furrows as she speaks. “But whenever I try to get in touch with Mitchell, his phone just goes straight to voicemail. And the landline number he gave me apparently doesn’t exist anymore.”_

_Dominic swallows. “Mitchell… that’s John Mitchell, right?” Fleur nods, and he continues, “I’m very sorry, Fleur, but he’s dead.”_

_To his surprise, Fleur just smiles and nods. “That’s what I thought. I thought, there’s no way that he would just disappear off the face of the Earth like that, something must have happened to him. Was he killed like… like my boys?”_

_“I’m not entirely sure what happened,” Dominic says honestly. “All I have is a third-party account of someone who wasn’t even there when it happened, but it doesn’t look like he was attacked. It seems like he asked one of his friends to… kill him.”_

_Fleur frowns. “Are you sure?”_

_“As I said,” Dominic reiterates with a small smile, “all I have is a third-party account.”_

_“Well,” Fleur says with a sigh, “he must have had his reasons, whatever they were. Anyway, I digress.” Looking back up at him, she says, “I was wondering, with Mitchell gone and no one else there to take his place… could I ask you to… look after them? After I’m gone?”_

_Dominic’s eyes widen slightly. “Me?” he asks, and Fleur smiles._

_“I suppose I was meaning your department as a whole, but if you and your boyfriend feel like adopting five vampire children, by all means, that would be even better,” she says, and Dominic feels his cheeks growing hot when he hears her so casually mentioning his boyfriend. Trying to imagine Hal looking after a group of prepubescent vampires puts an impish smile on his face._

_“Somehow I don’t think he’s the paternal type,” he says, shaking his head. “But anyway, yes, Fleur, we will make sure they are well looked after.”_

_“Thank you,” she says, giving him a warm smile. “There’s also… one other thing,” she continues after a moment._

_“Yes?” Dominic asks._

_Fleur swallows and says, “Please don’t mention anything to them. About what I just told you. I know…” she sighs, then continues, “I know that Bernie would want to… to make me into…” she trails off, shaking her head._

_“You don’t want him to turn you?” he asks, and she gives him a significant look._

_“No. I have thought about it long and hard, and… as I said, I have made my peace with it. I always knew I wasn’t going to live forever, and that’s fine. I would never want to… to become one of them.”_

_Dominic nods sharply. “I understand completely, Fleur,” he says, shuddering slightly at the thought of anyone willingly taking that curse upon themselves._

Like Hal, you mean? _a little voice speaks up at the back of his mind, and he frowns. Yes, that was exactly what he did, wasn’t it? He made a conscious decision to be turned into a monster. That is the one part of Hal that he doesn’t think he will ever understand._

_“Thank you, Dominic,” Fleur says with a smile. “I thought you would be someone who gets it.”_

_“I do,” Dominic says. “Most definitely. Don’t worry, I won’t tell them anything.”_

Bringing his thoughts back to the present, Dominic lets his eyes wander around the hospital restaurant as he takes the last few sips of his tea. So many people, all here to visit loved ones that are unwell, some of them dying, and he wonders how many of them would take up a curse like that if they were offered it, in return for eternal life.

Shaking his head, he slowly gets up off his chair and stretches out his lower back, aching from so many hours sitting in the car. He leaves the restaurant and once again walks down the corridor in search of the right ward.

***

Hal leaves the bathroom after a long, hot, relaxing shower, slowly making his way down the stairs, and he can pick up the voices of Alex and Tom in the kitchen, engaged in what sounds like some kind of heated debate. As soon as he steps through the door, the voices die down, and two pairs of eyes dart over towards him, one wide-eyed and apologetic, the other cold and accusing.

“I’m gonna go see Tasha,” Tom says, getting up and making a big point of retrieving a large, well-sharpened stake from one of the shelves in the pantry, narrowed eyes never leaving Hal as he crosses the kitchen and disappears into the hallway.

Hal stands in the middle of the room for a long moment, looking at the doorway his friend just left through, and he hears Alex let out a deep sigh behind him.

“I’m sorry, Hal. I tried talking to him, but he’s… really pissed off.”

“Yeah, I can tell,” Hal says dryly, finally tearing his eyes away from the door and walking over to the table, taking a seat across from Alex and giving her a fleeting look before staring down at the table top instead. “I’m… sorry about… what I said. Yesterday. I was… well…”

“You were drunk, I know. Don’t worry, Hal, I’m not so deluded to think you’d actually still want to have sex with me.”

Hal’s head snaps up sharply. “Alex—”

“No, really, don’t worry. I think I’m well and truly over you, believe it or not. Besides, I wouldn’t even be able to take my fucking clothes off.” She lets out a loud huff, and he feels a slow smile form on his lips.

“That would be a bit of a hindrance, admittedly,” he says.

She laughs softly, shaking her head, and says, “Dominic didn’t seem too keen on sharing you anyway.”

Hal chuckles. “No, he wasn’t, was he.” Then his smile turns wistful and he adds, “He told me about the flasks he left with you. Thank you for keeping them safe.”

“Yeah, all right,” Alex says, sounding slightly uncomfortable.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Hal continues, looking straight into her eyes, and she holds his gaze for a long moment.

“I wish I could believe that, Hal. But all my experiences with you or any other vampire tell me that blood is _not_ a good thing. It never seems to end well.”

“It will this time,” Hal says with a conviction that he knows deep down is brought on by the fresh human blood coursing through his veins, but in this moment in time, there is no reason for him not to believe it. “Trust me, Alex. This time, everything is going to be fine.”

***

Dominic strides up to the nurses’ station, behind which sits a young male nurse with dark brown hair that reminds him vaguely of Hal. The name badge on his chest reads ‘Jonathan’. Dominic clears his throat and says, “Excuse me.” Jonathan looks up at him, and he continues, “I’m looking for Geraldine Rook.”

“Are you Dominic?” Jonathan asks, looking at him closely.

Dominic nods. “Yes, that’s me.”

“Follow me,” Jonathan says, getting up and coming around the counter to lead him towards a side room opposite the nurses’ station. He carefully opens the door and looks inside, before turning around to Dominic. “She’s asleep,” he says. “You’re welcome to try and wake her up, but she’s been very sleepy ever since she came in. It’s the heart failure finally catching up with her.”

“I didn’t even realise she had heart failure,” Dominic says quietly, with a pang of guilt in his chest. He had been so wrapped up in his own problems that he never even gave her much of a second thought, and now here he is, at what could easily be her death bed.

Jonathan gives him a sympathetic smile. “I’ll give you some privacy. Ring the bell if you need anything.”

“Thanks,” Dominic says absently, eyes wandering towards the bed that holds a frail elderly lady with short, curly grey hair.

 _So much greyer than it was when I last saw you,_ he thinks as he takes a seat in the uncomfortable plastic chair next to the bed. He sits in silence for a long moment, just watching his grandmother’s fast, shallow, slightly wheezy breaths as she lies there sleeping beside him.

“Hi, Grandma,” he says into the silent room, not expecting her to actually open her eyes and give him a small, tired smile.

“Dommy,” she says breathily, her lungs not quite supplying enough oxygen.

“Hey,” he says, smiling back at her.

“I didn’t think you’d actually come,” she says then, and he feels a lump rising up in his throat.

He swallows hard and says, “Of course I did, Grandma. I would’ve come sooner if I’d known you were unwell.”

Giving him another small smile, she says, “I didn’t want to bother you, Dom. I know you’ve got your own life to get on with.” She has to stop to take a breath after every three or four words, Dominic notices, and he wants to tell her to stop talking so much, but at the same time he can’t deny his happiness at hearing her voice again.

“I’m not that busy that I wouldn’t have made time for you,” he says earnestly.

He feels her eyes roaming over him for a long moment, before she says, “Look at you, Dom. All grown up. The last time I saw you, at your father’s wake, you were barely out of puberty.”

That’s right, Dominic thinks. He did see her then. No wonder he didn’t remember it though, after the way he got that day.

_“Dominic, for goodness’ sake, pull yourself together. You’re not even old enough to drink.” His grandmother’s voice is as stern as the look in her eyes as she looms over his hunched form, trying to wrangle the beer glass out of his hand._

_“I’m seventeen,” he points out, trying to sound annoyed, but coming across more like a petulant child. A fact that doesn’t go unnoticed by his grandmother._

_“Exactly my point,” she says, raising her eyebrows. “And right now you’re not acting a day older than seven. So give me that glass already, Dominic, you’ve had plenty.”_

_“You don’t tell me what to do,” he snaps, glaring at her, before he stands up abruptly and makes his way on unsteady feet out of the function room and into the cold, rainy car park._

“I’m sorry about that,” he says now, and his grandmother gives him a weak smile.

“It wasn’t easy having been left an orphan at seventeen, Dom. I never said it was.”

“I was better off without him,” he replies quickly, sounding surprisingly close to his seventeen-year-old self from the memory.

“Is that really what you think?” a voice says, and Dominic starts. That voice… it’s the same as he heard on that phone call a week ago, except… now that the voice isn’t distorted through the speaker, he recognises it immediately. Wide eyes darting nervously around the small side room, he feels his heart hammering in his chest as he doesn’t see another presence in the room apart from his grandmother and himself.

“Dom?” his grandmother asks, then breaks into a violent coughing fit.

Fixing his gaze back on her, Dominic frowns as she wheezes and gasps for breaths, one of his hands hovering over the call button. She holds a hand up to him, halting him in his movement, and a moment later, her breaths seem to start coming a bit easier again.

“It’s all right,” she rasps, then gives him a questioning look. “Are _you_ all right?”

Still feeling a strange chill after hearing the familiar voice, Dominic nonetheless musters a small smile. “It’s nothing, don’t worry. I just thought I heard something.”

“Dom,” she says then, alarm in her voice, just as Dominic feels a warm, wet trickle from his right nostril. Heaving a frustrated sigh, he wordlessly gets up, walks over to the sink and pulls a paper towel from the dispenser, pressing it to his bleeding nose.

“Pesky little things, those nosebleeds, aren’t they?” the voice says, and Dominic freezes.

“How are you talking to me?” he asks into the room, eyes once again darting around, this time looking for any electrical devices, but the TV is switched off and even the heart monitor on the wall is not in use.

“Who are you talking to, dear?” his grandmother asks, giving him a slightly worried look.

“Wouldn’t you love to know that,” the voice answers, and Dominic bites his tongue not to shout out a reply.

Instead, he turns back towards the bed, takes a seat with the paper towel still firmly pressed to his nose, and says, “No one. Sorry, I… I thought I heard something again.” He gives a small, unconvincing laugh. “I didn’t sleep very much last night. Guess it’s starting to catch up.”

His grandmother frowns and shakes her head. “You Rook men are all the same. When it’s to do with your work, you can lie through your teeth, but you’ve never been any good at it with me.”

Dominic huffs a laugh. “Yeah, well. I guess you’ve got a lot of experience.”

“That I have,” she says. “Three generations of you I have seen, and it seems like you never learn.” She pauses and gives him a long, hard look. Then she opens her mouth again and says, “I’ve always waited for the wedding invitation.”

“The…” he drifts off and his eyes go wide at the unexpected segue.

“I had expected that by this time, surely you would’ve found a nice girl, settled down,” she explains, and Dominic feels a lump forming in his throat.

“I…” he starts, but finds that he can’t continue the sentence.

“Have you?” she asks, eyes so full of hope, and Dominic tries to swallow down the ever growing lump.

“I guess you could say that I have,” he says after a beat.

His grandmother smiles. “Why didn’t you bring her along?”

Dominic swallows painfully. “I… wasn’t sure it would be appropriate,” he says carefully, and her brow furrows.

“What would not be appropriate about that? Unless you’re embarrassed about your old grandma,” she adds with a smile.

Dominic huffs out a laugh. “Of course not,” he says quickly. “I more meant… I didn’t know exactly how unwell you were, and I didn’t want to… overwhelm you.” He briefly closes his eyes at his blatant lie, but this time, it seems, she didn’t manage to see through it.

“Tell me about her,” she says, a hand reaching out to grab Dominic’s, giving it a weak squeeze before letting it go again.

For a brief moment, Dominic considers correcting her incorrect use of pronouns. He opens his mouth, shuts it again, decides that now is not the time and place.

“What would you like to know?” he asks instead.

“Anything you can tell me, Dom. Is she pretty?”

Dominic lets out a quick laugh, his mind supplying him a picture of Hal in the cave yesterday, a teasing smile on his lips.

_I’ve got to ask… are you telling me I’m that girl?_

“Yes,” he says with conviction. “She’s beautiful.”

“Well? Anything else?” his grandmother asks, sounding slightly exasperated. “Good lord, if that’s all your grandfather had said about me back in the day, I would’ve been mighty cross.”

Dominic smiles and says, “H— She’s… intelligent, well-educated… and… kind of mysterious…” he pauses, lets out another, slightly self-conscious laugh, then continues, “She can make me laugh like no other…. she’s stubborn and opinionated, but also kind, and loving, and romantic… she’d never admit to that last one though. I… I care about her very much,” he finishes, a soft smile on his face as he looks at his grandmother, and he is surprised to see her eyes gleaming with unshed tears.

“I’m so happy for you, Dom,” she says. “It sounds like you really love her.”

“I do,” he says with a nod. “More than anything.”

His grandmother sighs deeply, and it throws her into another coughing fit, before she catches her breath and says, “I remember feeling like that about your grandfather. He used to be my whole world before… before he was taken from me.”

Dominic’s brow creases. “I don’t think you ever told me how he died.”

Her eyes take on a faraway look for a moment, and a sad smile plays on her lips. “He was killed… ‘on the job’, I suppose you could call it.”

Dominic feels a chill running through him at her words. “He was killed by supernaturals?” She nods, and he adds, “What type?”

“Vampires.”

Dominic’s breath catches in his throat. “I see.”

“He was much too young,” his grandmother says with a shake of her head, then pauses for yet another cough. “I wasn’t ready to let him go.” She gives him a wistful smile then, and adds, “But who am I kidding? I would never have been ready to let him go. It’s… always the worst thing, to be the one left behind.”

Dominic nods, his thoughts returning to that dreadful evening only a few short weeks ago, when he felt like his whole world was disintegrating along with the body under his fingertips. “I can well believe that,” he says.

“Good thing then that you’ll never have to find out what it’s like, isn’t it?” the voice says, dripping with malice, and Dominic’s heart almost jumps out of his chest. Biting the insides of his cheeks to keep himself from replying, he instead looks back at his grandmother, who gives him a weary smile.

“I hope you’ll never have to experience it,” she says. “Or at least not for a long while. Let’s hope you both live to a ripe old age together.”

He returns her smile with a small one of his own. “Yes,” he says. “Let’s hope.”

“ _Hope_ is not going to save you, boy,” the voice says. “There’s nothing that can save you now.”

 _Shut up_ , Dominic thinks, just about able to keep himself from saying it out loud, and he suddenly understands how Hal must be feeling with the other one talking to him in his head. _Are you in my head?_ he asks tentatively, and the voice lets out a malicious laugh.

“Wouldn’t you love to know? Am I in your head? A figment of your imagination? Or maybe I’m a Type 1?” Dominic tenses up, and the voice continues, “Oh yes, boy, I know you’re able to communicate with Type 1s. That nasty, unnatural ‘gift’ that you’ve got. But then, nasty and unnatural are words that can be used to describe a lot things about you nowadays, can’t they?”

 _Shut the fuck up,_ Dominic thinks again, squeezing his eyes tightly shut. At the same time, he can feel a fresh wave of blood oozing from his nose, and he lifts the blood-soaked paper towel back up to stop the flow.

“Dominic?” his grandmother asks, her voice more strained and wheezy than it has been this last half hour. “What’s wrong with you, my boy?”

“It’s nothing, Grandma,” Dominic says quickly, giving her a small smile underneath the bunched up paper towel. “Just a nosebleed.”

His grandmother gives him a grave look. “What did I tell you about lying to me, Dom?”

“I’m sorry,” he says sheepishly. “I’ve… just been getting these nosebleeds recently. I don’t know what’s causing them.”

His grandmother sighs. “Please promise me you will get them looked at, Dominic.”

“Of course I will,” he says, nodding, and she smiles at him.

“Good boy,” she says, in a voice that is barely above a whisper, and her eyes slip closed as fatigue takes over her body. “It’s been… so good to see you again, Dommy,” she breathes, and his hand shoots out to take hold of her own, smaller hand.

“And you, Grandma.”

A tiny smile still plays on her lips, even as her eyes are closed and she leans her head to the side to get more comfortable in the big hospital bed. “You should go home to your sweetheart, Dom,” she whispers, so softly that he has to strain his ears to hear it.

He shakes his head. “No, Grandma, I—”

“Please, Dominic,” she interjects. “There is nothing here to see for you other than sickness and death. I’ve had my fill of life, Dommy. It’s time for me to move on. But you… you’ve still got so much left to live for. Don’t waste it sitting here by an old woman’s bedside. Go and spend it with the person you love.”

Dominic can feel the unmistakable prick of tears in the corners of his eyes, and he takes a deep breath, trying to keep them from rolling down his face. “Are you sure, Grandma?” he asks quietly.

She gives him a tiny nod. “Yes, my boy. I don’t want you to be here when I… I don’t want that to be the last you see of me. Remember me the way I used to be, Dom.”

Dominic can’t stop the broken sob that escapes his throat at her words. “I’m sorry I didn’t get in touch sooner,” he says.

She shakes her head slightly. “You’ve got nothing to apologise for. Now, please, Dom, go. I’m ready.”

Letting out a shaky breath, Dominic gets slowly to his feet and leans over the bed, enveloping his grandmother in a careful hug. Then he pulls back and places a feather-light kiss on her forehead.

“I love you, Grandma,” he says quietly, and one lonely tear escapes his left eye, rolling down his cheek as he straightens up.

“I love you too, my boy,” she whispers back, not opening her eyes again.

Dominic swallows thickly, taking one last long look at the frail old woman in the bed, his last living relative. Then he turns around and swiftly leaves the room. His feet carry him across the ward and out into the long corridor, and he is only marginally aware of where he is going, but somehow, he finds himself back in the car park, next to his silver Lexus, and he opens the driver’s door and climbs inside.

He is about to turn the key in the ignition when he changes his mind, and reaches into his pocket for his phone.

_**On my way back. Should be home by 8 xx** _

He quickly sends the message to Hal, and within less than a minute, Hal’s reply appears on his screen.

**Please drive carefully. See you at 8 xx**

He smiles at the obvious display of Hal’s protective streak, then stores his phone away and starts the car.

***

Dominic has been driving for about an hour, the winding country road through Snowdonia National Park stretching out endlessly in front of him, his thoughts on what his grandmother said about wanting him to remember her the way she used to be.

 _How is Hal going to remember me?_ he thinks before he can stop himself.

“Exactly as you are now,” the voice answers him, and Dominic almost jumps out of his skin.

“Fucking hell,” he exclaims, the car swerving slightly on the road before he catches himself and brings it back under control. “Are you trying to get me…” he trails off, eyes widening as the voice cackles menacingly.

“You could say that,” the voice answers. “I never thought I’d try to off my own flesh and blood, but then again, you hardly deserve to be called that anymore. And after all it was you who chose me.”

Dominic frowns and shakes his head. “I’m sorry, you’ve lost me. I chose you how?”

“Don’t ask me how the particulars work,” his father says from the direction of the passenger seat, and Dominic turns his head, heart skipping a beat when he sees him sitting there, shrugging before lifting his eyes to meet his. As soon as they do, his father’s eyes go hard and cold as ice, and his lip curls in disgust. “All I know is that I’m the one you chose to be your own personal Grim Reaper.”

Dominic huffs. “Not me,” he says, eyes fixed on the road. “That would’ve been the Devil, I suppose.”

“Oh, yes, that impressive little stunt you pulled,” his father says, and if Dominic didn’t know better, he would’ve said that he almost sounds proud. “If only it hadn’t been to save that revolting animal,” he adds derisively.

“He’s not an animal,” Dominic says in a defiant tone. “That’s the kind of bullshit you fed me all your life. Turns out you were wrong.”

His father laughs harshly. “Was I? Is it not that very same animal that has been _biting_ you in the neck repeatedly to _drink your blood_?”

Dominic shakes his head. “You don’t understand the first thing about that.”

“Don’t I?” his father bellows. “I understand that my son, _my_ son turns out to be a disgusting vampire-cock-sucking whore, that’s what I understand!”

“Shut the fuck up!” Dominic yells back, just as he starts to feel a familiar warm trickle from his nose. He reflexively raises a hand to wipe it away, smearing the back of his hand with bright red blood. There’s nothing he can do about it now, he thinks, as he places the hand back on the steering wheel and lets the blood run down his mouth and chin.

“Just look at you, Dominic,” his father scoffs. “It’s almost like the mere sight of it turns you on. How could you let yourself go so far, boy? Isn’t it bad enough that you’re a fucking pansy, did you have to go and get yourself laid by a filthy subhuman freak?”

“Enough!” Dominic shouts, the car once again swerving dangerously as he oversteers around a sharp bend. His heart hammers wildly in his chest as he narrowly misses an oncoming car, and his father chuckles in the passenger seat.

“Now, now, Dominic. You better calm yourself down, or you’re going to have an accident.”

Dominic huffs. “Isn’t that exactly what you want?” he asks, pointedly looking at the road, both hands firmly gripping the steering wheel. “What are you, anyway? Some kind of hallucination? Am I losing my mind?”

“I already told you, Dominic, I’m not sure about the particulars,” he says, sounding almost bored.

Dominic’s eyes wander further down the road, where he can just make out a road junction on the left. A green road sign gives directions to a number of places he has never heard of. Eyes flitting across the names of towns listed on the sign, he just about makes out _Ffestiniog 3 miles_ and _Blaenau Ffestiniog 6 miles_ , before his eyes dart up to a smaller, separate sign, and he reads _Purgatory A470._

Dominic does a double take, sure that his mind has been playing cheap tricks on him, but before he gets the chance to read the sign again, he has already gone past it. His heart, if possible, beats even faster in his chest, fingers going white as he painfully grips the steering wheel.

“What the fuck do you want from me?” he bites out, not addressing anyone in particular, least of all his father. But of course, it is him who answers.

“End of the road, boy,” he says, as out of a side road, a large black 4x4 appears, and Dominic hits the brakes and steers sharply to the right to avoid a collision. The car skids and slides sideways out of control. One of the wheels hits something on the side of the road, tipping the car over onto its side, and Dominic feels the ground tilt and lift away from him, disorientating him and making him nauseous. Something big and white appears out of nowhere, hitting him square in the chest and making it difficult to breathe, and still the world is out of kilter as he feels himself being pushed upwards – no, downwards – and a split second later his head smashes with a loud crack against the roof of the car, and everything goes black.

***

Hal moves his bishop into place, ready to strike the killing blow in what would be his third consecutive victory over Alex in this afternoon’s impromptu chess match, when the loud ringing of the old green reception phone interrupts the silence.

He throws Alex a questioning look across the table, and the ghost shrugs her shoulders. “Haven’t got a clue, Hal, but in my experience, most people can’t hear me, so you better go and get it.”

Nodding absently, Hal can’t shake the slight feeling of unease that settles into his stomach as he crosses the room and picks up the phone.

“Hello?” he asks tentatively.

“Hal,” Natasha’s unmistakable voice sounds through the receiver, and the feeling of unease multiplies tenfold at her too-calm, almost robotic tone.

“Tasha, what’s wrong?” he asks, breath catching in his throat and voice breaking on the last word.

“I just had a phone call from the hospital,” Tasha says, still in that emotionless voice, and he feels a cold chill running down his spine.

“Tasha?” he asks urgently. “What happened?”

There is a long, drawn out silence, and all the world seems to slow down, to come to a standstill. Hal wants to shout at her, to demand for her to tell him what is wrong, but his breath sticks deep in his chest, and his airways close up, making it impossible to breathe.

Finally, after what seems like an eternity, her voice rings through the receiver again.

“Hal, it’s Dominic. He’s had a car accident.”


	29. Negotiations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!

I want to have the same last dream again  
The one where I wake up and I'm alive  
Just as the four walls closed me within  
My eyes are opened up with pure sunlight

\- Angels & Airwaves, “The Adventure”

Alex watches with bated breath as Hal drops the receiver down on the counter and stands, staring into space with an empty expression in his eyes.

“Hal?” she asks cautiously. “What's wrong?”

Hal doesn't answer for the longest moment, and Alex is about to say something else when he finally turns back towards her, and she feels a lump in her throat when she sees the naked panic in his eyes.

“Alex,” he croaks, voice barely obeying him, “you have to take me to the hospital.”

“What do you—” she starts, but never gets the chance to finish as Hal cuts her off.

“Now, Alex!” he barks, and her eyes widen in shocked surprise at his tone.

“Which hospital?” she asks.

Hal lets out something halfway between a scoff and a sob. “The same one he just left from.”

“Hal, what hap—”

“Alex!” he yells, and reaches out to firmly grasp her hand.

“I don't even know the place, Hal!” she snaps back, giving him a wide-eyed look.

Hal takes in a shaky breath. “Just… give it your best shot, then,” he says, deflating slightly, his hand giving hers a tight squeeze.

She sighs, nods, and closes her eyes, thinking, _Bangor, hospital,_ over and over.

“Here we go,” she says, as she starts to feel the familiar pull that signals her moving across space, Hal holding onto her for dear life.

She opens her eyes just in time to see Hal stumbling and falling over gracelessly onto his knees with a loud thud.

“Shit, I hate doing that,” he mutters as he clenches his teeth and pushes himself back up to his feet.

“You all right?” Alex asks, and he gives her a brisk nod.

“Fine.” He quickly brushes himself off and takes a look around. “Lets go.”

Alex follows his gaze and finds they materialised in a sterile looking corridor storing a number of empty hospital beds and trolleys filled with bed linen.

Hal starts walking in the direction of the nearest door, and she has to break into a light jog to keep up with his hurried strides. The door takes them through to what looks like the main hospital corridor, with large numbers of people walking to and fro. Hal stops dead in his tracks and takes a deep breath, nostrils quivering and a predatory look in his eyes.

“Hal,” Alex says urgently, a hand shooting out and grabbing his sleeve. “Snap out of it.” Hal turns towards her, wild-eyed and swallowing compulsively. “Remember why you're here, Hal,” she continues, giving him a piercing look. “It's Dominic, isn't it? Tell me what happened.”

“Its Dominic,” he repeats, his voice distant as his eyes keep flicking across the people walking past. “He's had an accident. It's not looking good. They think he might not make it.”

Alex's eyes widen, even as she pulls on his sleeve to get him to move in the direction of a map on the wall. “Well, what are we waiting for?” she asks. “Let's go find him.”

***

Dominic opens his eyes and finds himself sitting in a padded wooden chair in a large, elegant office, and it only takes a split second for his disorientation to dissolve and make way for recognition. A sense of dread settles into his stomach as he lifts his eyes to look straight into the stern face of the senior administrator.

The woman sighs and gives him an exasperated look. “Dominic Rook. Here we are again.”

Dominic swallows nervously as his gaze darts around the office, taking in the antique furniture and the two large dogs on the floor on either side of the desk. “So, I'm dead, then?” he asks.

To his surprise, the woman shakes her head. “Not quite.”

Dominic’s eyes narrow. “What do you mean, not quite?”

“Do you remember what happened, Dominic?”

Dominic frowns as he tries to recall the events that led up to him being here. Flashes of memories come back to him, of him visiting his grandmother, of getting into the car, texting Hal, driving back to Barry… of his father being there, shouting abuse at him… of a black 4x4…

“I was in a car crash,” he says slowly, blanching at the realisation. “The car went off the road and… rolled over?” The last part is more of a question than a statement, and his eyes seek out the senior administrator, who nods gravely.

“Indeed,” she confirms. “You were airlifted back to Bangor. At this very moment, you are brought into the Emergency Department at Gwynedd Hospital. They're not sure if you're going to make it. Chances are you're going to fall victim to your extensive injuries.”

Dominic’s frown deepens. “But if I'm not dead… how can I be here?”

“You're not,” the woman says with a shrug. Dominic gives her a bewildered look, and she adds, “What I mean is, you're not _really_ here. Not like you were before. Physically, you are in the resus area at Gwynedd Hospital.”

“Then how are you talking to me?” Dominic asks, and the woman barks out a laugh.

“It would seem my esteemed colleague planted a little something in your head, to enable you to pass through the Door you so foolishly requested.”

“What kind of something?” Dominic asks.

The woman gives him a mysterious smile. “A… connection, of sorts, I believe.”

“A connection to the afterlife?”

She nods. “Yes, I suppose you could call it that.”

Dominic huffs. “Is that why you've been so desperately trying to get me to come back?”

“In part,” the woman says with another brisk nod. “The other part is that your presence here and your subsequent departure has _really_ irked the guardians, and you don't want to get on the wrong side of them.” A small smile plays on her lips as she regards him carefully. “But at the end of the day, the little gift that Nick left you with would have killed you sooner or later anyway. What do you think all those nosebleeds were trying to tell you?”

“Nick?” Dominic asks, bemused.

The woman shrugs. “It’s the name he preferred in recent times.”

Dominic nods, then continues, “So what you’re telling me is that my fate has already been decided.”

The woman lets out a high pitched laugh. “Of course it has, Dominic. What did you think, that you could strike a deal with the Devil himself and walk away unscathed? I honestly didn’t think you were that naive. And your vampire lover figured it out a long time ago, as well. Not that you ever actually listened to what he said.”

Dominic heaves a deep sigh. “So, then, what? Why am I here? Why haven’t I just died and gone to hell and got it the fuck over with?”

The woman gives him a steely look. “It seems like your zeal for life is a lot stronger than any of us anticipated,” she says slowly. “Surprising, really, given your previous history. I understand there was a time when you would have quite willingly ended your own life.”

Dominic swallows. “That was before I met Hal,” he says through clenched teeth, and the senior administrator gives him a small smile that looks oddly out of place on her stern face.

“I see. Well, now you can die in the knowledge that he will be safe and well, because of what you did for him. Your ‘noble sacrifice’.”

“What if I refuse?” Dominic asks. “You said it yourself, I have been able to keep myself alive this long.”

The woman laughs. “You are hanging on by the skin of your teeth, Dominic. And I am here to persuade you to let go.”

***

Hal walks up to the A&E receptionist, doing his best to ignore the myriads of heartbeats all around him and the almost overwhelming smell of fresh blood in this part of the hospital. He suddenly, desperately wishes he had brought one of the flasks with him that are currently locked away in a secret location at Honolulu Heights, but he doesn’t even trust himself to send Alex away for five minutes to retrieve one for him.

“How can I help you, sir?” the receptionist asks brightly, far too brightly for an A&E receptionist, Hal decides.

He looks at her with big, desperate eyes and says, “I’m looking for Dominic Rook? He was brought in here after a car accident, about… an hour ago?”

The receptionist gives him a curious look. “And who would you be, sir?”

Hal swallows down the urge to jump over the counter and tear into her irritating little neck. He can feel Alex tensing up next to him, one of her hands coming to rest on his forearm.

“Just tell her, Hal,” she says calmly. “She’s just doing her job.”

Hal takes a deep breath, nods and says, “My name is Hal Yorke. Dominic is my boyfriend.”

“All right, one second, sir,” the receptionist says, and checks something on the computer screen in front of her, a small crease in her brow. “Ah, yes, here we are. He was taken into Resus. It’s just down that way,” she says, pointing down the corridor.

“Thank you,” Hal says quickly, before briskly walking down the corridor, past the larger, open area labelled ‘Majors’, and into a smaller room that only holds four cubicles, divided by blue curtains. A nurse in light blue scrubs walks up him.

“I’m looking for Dominic Rook,” he says before she even has the chance to ask the question, and she gives him a small, sympathetic smile.

“You’re his partner?” she asks, and Hal’s eyes widen.

“I… yes,” he says. “How did you—”

“I spoke to his friend, Natasha? She told me you would be coming in. Hal, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Hal croaks, then looks around the small room, only two of the four cubicles currently being in use, and both of the curtains fully shut. “Where is he?” he asks, training his eyes back on the nurse and giving her a pleading look.

“Just in here,” the nurse says, indicating the closer one of the two cubicles before slightly opening the curtain and sticking her head inside. After a moment, she comes back out and says, “The doctor is just trying to get some blood for a cross-match. You can go in, as long as you’re not squeamish about blood.”

Hal swallows compulsively and says, “I’m not. And he’s O negative.”

“Thanks,” the nurse says with a small smile, “but we have to do the cross-match anyway.”

Then she opens the curtain wider, and Hal’s eyes fall on the the motionless body on the narrow A&E trolley inside. He can once again feels Alex’s hand on his forearm as her eyes follow his and she takes in a sharp breath at the sight that greets them. Dominic’s head is completely enclosed by an orange immobiliser, and there is a tube going into his mouth, delivering oxygen into his lungs. Hal’s eyes are drawn immediately to a large, angry looking cut above his his right eyebrow. A cannula in his right arm is connected to a large bag of saline, slowly dripping into his bloodstream. His chest is exposed and so, so pale, covered in bruises, more cuts and ECG electrodes.

“Shit, Blondie, why do you keep doing this to me?” Alex whispers next to him, and Hal feels a sharp ache in his chest at the implications of her words.

A young, sandy haired doctor looks up from where he has been hovering over Dominic’s left arm, giving Hal an apologetic look and saying, “I’m sorry, I will be out of your way in a second. He has lost a lot of blood, so it’s been difficult to get the sample for the cross-match, but I think I’ve got it now.” He holds up a small tube of dark red blood, and Hal almost feels sick at the immediate surge of hunger that courses through him at the sight.

 _This is_ not _the time and place,_ he tells himself, and forcefully looks away from the blood sample and back at Dominic’s pale, expressionless face.

“You all right?” Alex asks immediately. Trust her to pick up on his reaction straight away.

Hal gives her a brisk nod and walks over to the side of the trolley, one of his hands reaching out to grasp Dominic’s, and he gives it a tight squeeze. “I’m here,” he says quietly, looking for any kind of reaction from Dominic, but his eyes stay firmly closed, and his hand feels limp and lifeless in his grip. “You’ve got to wake up, Dominic,” Hal continues, thumb rubbing lightly over the back of Dominic’s hand. “Please. Come back to me.”

He can feel Alex’s hand lightly touching the small of his back as she comes to stand next to him, and he turns around to give her a brief look, now that the doctor has left the cubicle.

Alex looks back at him with big, sad eyes. “I’m sorry, Hal,” she says, and Hal can feel a sudden surge of anger inside him at her words

“What do you mean, you’re sorry? He’s not going to die, Alex!” he bites out under his breath, shooting her an accusing look.

Alex sighs. “I didn’t mean…” she starts, then trails off and starts again, “I just meant I’m sorry you have to go through this. I know it’s hard to see him like this.”

Hal lets out a deep breath as his anger dissipates, and he barely notices when the nurse comes back in to put a dark blue plastic chair down next to the trolley. He sinks down into it without ever taking his eyes off Dominic or stopping his thumb’s incessant rubbing on his hand. “Please, just give me some kind of sign that you’re in there, that you can hear me,” Hal says. “I need to know that you’re going to be okay.”

He squeezes Dominic’s hand again, waiting for something, anything in response – a flicker of an eyelid, a movement of fingers – but there is nothing, only silence, as he sits there and watches the rhythmic rise and fall of Dominic’s chest in time with the ventilator.

***

Dominic scoffs and shakes his head. “Don’t waste your precious time,” he says quietly. “I’m not going to come willingly.”

“You obviously don’t quite grasp the gravity of your situation,” the woman says, giving him a serious look. “You are already on borrowed time, Dominic. You have been ever since you left purgatory.”

“I understand that,” Dominic snaps, bright blue eyes piercing into hers. “But I’m not going to go like this… not—” He abruptly stops as he feels something, a tight pressure around his right hand, and his eyes flick down to said hand in his lap. He tries to flex his fingers, but finds that his movement is restricted by an invisible force.

“He’s there with you,” the woman says, and that strange small smile returns to her face. Dominic frowns.

“He’s holding my hand?” he asks, still trying and failing to move his fingers.

The woman nods. “Indeed.”

Then, Dominic feels a faint tickle across the back of his hand, and as if from far away, he can hear Hal’s voice drifting through the air towards him.

_“Please. Come back to me.”_

“I want to,” Dominic says loudly, eyes darting around the large room, and he can hear the woman let out a quiet laugh across from him.

“He can’t hear you, Dominic,” she says. “But I have to say, the two of you are… something else.”

“What do you mean?” he asks sharply, fixing his gaze back on her again.

“I mean,” she says, “that your commitment to each other is quite remarkable. Especially for a relationship between a human and a vampire.”

“I don’t see how that should matter,” Dominic says, frowning.

The woman lets out another high-pitched laugh. “It matters, because he can – and _did_ , if I remember correctly – quite easily kill you. And yet you are completely and utterly devoted to him. It surprises me, that’s all.”

“I love him,” Dominic says with a shrug, looking down at his hands in his lap.

“That was never in question,” she replies. “To sacrifice your precious human life for a creature that has already been around for five hundred years… do you think he would do the same for you?”

Dominic’s head snaps up at her words, and he narrows his eyes at her. “What are you implying?”

She gives him a steely look. “I was not implying anything, Dominic. But I would be intrigued to know what made you think that I was.”

“I…” he drifts off with a deep sigh, shaking his head. “I don’t know.”

“I don’t believe that,” she states, and Dominic feels a wave of unease at the pit of his stomach. What does she want him to say?

After a long moment of tense silence, Dominic clears his throat and says, “I’m not sure.”

The woman gives him a small, knowing smile. “But that is not all there is to it, is it?” she asks.

The sense of unease grows and spreads inside of him as she just continues to look at him with that intense gaze of hers, and he feels a lump forming in his throat, swallowing repeatedly to get rid of it.

“I…” he starts again, but finds that he can’t give voice to the thoughts that are buried in the deepest, darkest recesses of his mind, that he has left there to be forgotten, to never surface again.

“You’re afraid of what he might do instead,” she voices the thought for him, and Dominic feels his breath catch in his throat. He tries to reply, but finds that he can’t get enough air out to form words, and he just silently nods instead.

Silence falls once more, and Dominic feels a ghost of a touch to the centre of his forehead. A kiss, he realises.

_“Come on, Blondie. You’ve been asleep for long enough now. Let me see those gorgeous eyes of yours again.”_

Hal’s voice has an odd, choked quality to it, like he has been crying, and Dominic’s heart aches.

“How long have I been here?” he asks, and the woman raises her eyebrows at him.

“The question is not how long you have been here, Dominic. It is how long you have been _there_. Time passes differently in here. A minute in purgatory can be as short as a second, or as long as a day, out there in the world of the living. And your… connection… seems to produce quite a fluctuating picture.”

Dominic’s brow furrows. “How long?” he asks again.

The woman smiles. “Two weeks,” she says, and he feels all the colour drain from his face.

***

Natasha steps into the large, sparsely lit room that is the Intensive Care Unit, firmly grasping Tom’s warm hand in her own. The full moon was only a few days ago, and she has noticed that his body temperature is always slightly raised around this time of the month.

Her eyes wander across the other hospital beds, filled with unconscious people connected to too many tubes and lines, before they come to lie on a slim blond man in the last bed on the right, the hunched figure of another, darker-haired man sitting next to the bed and firmly holding onto a pale, lifeless hand. Her own hand tightens around Tom’s, who gives a little squeeze back, and she lifts her eyes up to see him gazing down at her with his eyebrows drawn tightly together.

“Go on,” he says quietly, and Natasha nods and takes a few careful steps towards the bed. Her breath catches in her throat as she takes in the still form of Dominic, so pale and small in that oversized hospital bed, with tubes everywhere and a monitor showing brightly coloured curves and numbers behind the bed.

At their approach, the previously motionless figure in the chair stirs, and Natasha’s heart speeds up involuntarily as her eyes meet Hal’s.

“Hi, Tasha, Tom,” he says, his voice croaky from non-use. She can see dark circles under eyes that look bloodshot as if from crying, but the tears have long since dried up. He looks scruffy and unshaven and so different from the Hal she remembers from when she last saw him in London all those months ago.

“Hi, Hal,” she replies, just as Tom utters a slightly forced sounding, “Hey, mate.”

Hal averts his eyes at the barely suppressed hostility in Tom’s voice, and he looks back at the figure on the bed instead. “You can hate me all you want, but please don’t bring that here, Tom. I can’t deal with that here.”

Tom sighs deeply next to her, and she lifts her eyes to see him give Hal a thoughtful look. “I don’t hate ya,” he says quietly. Hal huffs slightly, not turning back around to them. “I think ya made a bad call, Hal, a real bad call, but that don’t mean I hate ya. You’re still me best mate, and…” he pauses as Hal turns back around to him, fresh tears now standing in his eyes, “and I’m worried ‘bout ya. You’ve been sittin’ here pretty much non-stop for the last, what?”

“Two weeks today,” Hal croaks, both hands taking hold of Dominic’s hand and bringing it up to his mouth, pressing a gentle kiss to his knuckles before lowering it back down onto the mattress.

“That’s my point, Hal. Ya haven’t eaten, or slept, or done nothin’ but sit here by his bed. Don’t ya think—”

“I’m not going to leave him, Tom,” Hal says forcefully, careful to keep his voice down. “If you came here to suggest that, you can just as well go away now.”

“I came here with Tasha,” Tom points out. “I just wanted to tell ya what I think.”

Hal sighs deeply and lifts his eyes back towards them, then he gives Natasha a small smile. “I’m glad you could come.”

She takes another cautious step towards the bed, an unsettling feeling of alarm spreading in her chest at seeing Dominic in such a helpless and vulnerable state. “I’m sorry I didn’t make it sooner,” she says. “I just didn’t think that I could face… I guess I was still hoping for him to wake up again.”

Hal’s eyes harden as he says, “He is going to wake up again.”

“Hal,” she says, swallowing thickly before she continues, “I did some reading, about… people in a coma, and it says… it says that the longer it goes on for, the smaller the chance—”

“He _is_ going to wake up again, Tasha,” Hal repeats. “The doctors don’t even know…” he trails off and brings a hand up to squeeze the corners of his eyes, where fresh tears are threatening to spill over.

“What, Hal?” she prompts, and he nods and swallows before continuing.

“They said they’ve done repeated brain scans, and they can’t actually find anything… anything that would cause him to still be like this.” He turns back towards the bed and looks at Dominic, still and silent on the bed. “They said that the only thing they found was some… ‘unusual brain activity in his temporal lobes’, whatever that means.” He shakes his head, not taking his eyes off Dominic. “They said they have never seen anything quite like it before. That it’s a bit like seizure activity, but different enough to not be that. And it has been going pretty much constantly since the accident.” He pauses, shakes his head again, then swallows and adds, “It seems like he’s very busy in there.”

***

“What can I do to speed this up?” Dominic asks faintly, his thoughts on Hal, sitting by his bedside for two weeks while he is unconscious, having a chat with a bureaucrat of the afterlife in the deepest recesses of his brain.

The woman laughs her high-pitched laugh again. “Why are you suddenly in such a hurry to die?”

He shakes his head, flaring his nostrils in frustration. “I already told you, I am not going to die. I’m not just going to ‘let go’ or whatever you called it. Not yet, not like this…”

The woman gives him a calculating look. “What makes you think that you have any choice in the matter?”

Dominic meets her eyes with his own, a look of unwavering conviction in his eyes, and says, “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.” The woman opens her mouth to protest, but he holds up a hand to silence her and continues, “You can’t tell me that you weren’t planning to straight out kill me in that accident. The fact that I survived, that I’m still out there – what, two weeks later? – is enough evidence for me to know that this is not final. That there is room for negotiation.”

The woman scoffs. “Negotiation? You are not on the job, now, Dominic. I am not one of your creatures, and your tough talk tactics are not going to work here.”

Still his piercing eyes never stray from hers, and his voice is completely steady when he says, “Everybody has a price, ma’am.”

Her eyebrows shoot up as she looks back at him, the first sign of her composure slipping the smallest amount, and Dominic smiles grimly.

“So, let’s just pretend for a moment that you did have something I wanted, some bargaining chip that you could use to extend your life _yet again_ … who says that _I_ have any choice in the matter?” she asks.

Dominic, however, chooses not to answer her question at all, regarding it as a cheap attempt to distract him from his goal, and instead gives her a wide-eyed, quizzical look. “How have things been in here since… Nick… met his untimely end?” he asks innocently.

Something flashes in the woman’s eyes for a fraction of a second before she hides it away behind a stony facade. “I don’t see how that has got anything to do with this.”

Dominic shrugs. “I was just curious, that’s all.”

The woman looks at him for a long moment, then sighs and says, “There has certainly been an improvement in the overall atmosphere and morale. Although the guardians have found it harder to adjust.”

“Mmmh,” Dominic acknowledges with a nod. “I can understand that. He was their direct superior, wasn’t he? But I did get the feeling when I was last here that in general, Nick didn’t enjoy a huge amount of popularity amongst the staff.”

“No,” the woman agrees. “That is certainly true.”

Dominic gives her a significant look. “So, in return for having rid you of—”

“Oh no,” the woman cuts in, giving him an exasperated look. “Not that again, Dominic. I believe we have already given you all you deserved for having done what you did.”

Dominic swallows. “Yes,” he says quietly. “Except that I did what I did for one reason, and one reason only.”

“To save your vampire,” she says, and he nods.

“To save my vampire. And I refuse—” She opens her mouth to interrupt, but he once again holds up his hand and raises his voice to carry on, “ _I refuse_ to leave without saying goodbye to him.”

The woman’s eyes widen, and she stares at him for what feels like several minutes without saying a word or showing any other kind of response to his request. Dominic feels a vague impression of a thumb rubbing across his left cheek, and he closes his eyes, swallowing thickly.

 _I’m still here, Hal,_ he thinks, trying against all odds to somehow reach him, to send the message across to him, but really he knows it’s to no avail.

 _“I miss you, Dominic,”_ he hears Hal’s voice ringing through the silence, and one single silent tear rolls down his cheek at the resignation and heartbreak he can so clearly here in it. _“I know you probably can’t hear me, but if you can… please come back to me. This… this is worse than… I just… I need you back with me. Please. I love you.”_

 _I love you too,_ Dominic thinks. _More than you will ever know. And I’m fighting for a chance to tell you that. Just hang in there, Hal. I’ll see you soon._

A sharp intake of breath interrupts his thoughts, and he opens his eyes to see the senior administrator looking back at him with a creased brow. “That is all you want?” she asks quietly. “That is all you wanted all along, to get a chance to say goodbye to him?”

Dominic nods sharply. “Yes.”

“And once you have done that, you are going to come back to us? Without a fight?”

He swallows and nods again. “I will.” The look she gives him is unconvinced, and he adds, “I promise, I will come back to you without a fight.”

“Whenever we feel it is right for you to come?” she clarifies, and he finds himself nodding once more.

“Yes.”

“By whatever means we deem suitable?” she continues.

He heaves a deep sigh, and nods again. “Yes.”

The woman looks at him in silence once more, eyes narrowed and regarding him carefully, before a slow, pleased smile spreads across her face.

***

Hal looks up at the sound of approaching footsteps, and finds Lucy, one of the ICU nurses, walking towards him holding a travel mug of what smells like strong tea. She gives him a warm smile as she hands him the mug.

“I thought you could probably do with it,” she says, eyes flicking towards Dominic for a brief moment before settling back on him.

Hal’s forehead creases slightly as he holds the warm mug between his fingers, and slightly belatedly he forces out a small smile of his own. “Thank you,” he says, even as the smell of the tea makes a wave of nausea rise in his empty gut. It has been three days since Alex brought him the last flask from her store back home, despite his careful rationing, and he is starting to feel the effects of the withdrawal taking hold.

“You should really go home and get some proper sleep, Hal,” Lucy continues, and Hal takes a deep breath to keep himself from snapping at her.

 _She only means well_ , he thinks, but it is barely enough to control himself. His nerves are pretty much lying bare at this point. “Thanks, Lucy. I’ll… think about it,” he says with another small, forced smile.

“I mean it, Hal,” she adds. “You’ve been by his bedside pretty much twenty-four seven for—” She cuts off as a warning beep on the ventilator catches her attention, and she swiftly walks over to check the device. Hal’s eyes widen as he looks anxiously between the machine and Dominic’s face, and is it the light playing tricks on him, or did he just see Dominic’s eyelids flutter?

“Lucy?” he croaks out, eyes fixed on Dominic’s face and his right hand firmly gripping the other man’s. “What’s going on?”

Lucy frantically presses several buttons on the machine, and he lifts his eyes briefly away from Dominic, only to see her frowning intently at the screen in front of her.

“It looks like…” she starts, then trails off and continues to press buttons.

“Like what, Lucy? What’s happening with him?”

At that moment, Hal can quite clearly feel Dominic’s little finger twitching in his grasp, and he loosens his hand slightly to give him more room to move. His eyes dart down to their joint hands, and his breath catches in his throat when he sees the undeniable evidence of Dominic’s little finger flexing and extending, then his ring finger joining in, and he glances back up at his face just in time to once again see his eyelids flutter.

“Lucy,” he says breathlessly. “He’s waking up.”

The nurse nods, her own gaze wandering over Dominic’s body. “So he is,” she confirms. “He’s just started breathing for himself.”

“That’s good news, isn’t it?” Hal asks, meeting her eyes even as his own go blurry with unshed tears.

Lucy gives him a vague nod. “Yes, that’s… great news,” she says, a crease in her brow, before she runs off in the direction of the nurses’ station, and Hal sees her in a heated discussion with one of the doctors, gesticulating towards Dominic several times, before they both come running back over, and Hal finds himself ushered away from the bed as a flurry of activity breaks out around them.

Hal watches with wide eyes as Dominic’s breathing tube is removed and replaced with a nasal cannula, and Lucy frantically scribbles down numbers on an observation chart at the end of the bed, eyes flicking between the monitor and Dominic’s body on the bed, left hand now opening and closing repeatedly, and Hal wants nothing more than to move in and grab hold of that hand again, to show him that he is not alone.

The doctor’s eyes meet his then, and she gives him a curt nod. “Go back to him,” she says. “He may respond better to someone he knows.”

Hal doesn’t need telling twice as his legs have already carried him back to the bedside, and he sits down in the too familiar plastic chair, hand reaching out to take Dominic’s in his own.

“I’m here,” he says. “You can wake up now. I’ve been waiting for you.”

Dominic’s fingers tighten around his own, and Hal watches in astonishment as his eyelids flutter, flutter, flutter, and fly open, making way for the most beautiful blue eyes he has ever known.

“Hey,” Hal says, tears now rolling down both of his cheeks, and he lifts his free hand to hastily wipe them away. “Welcome back.”

Dominic’s eyes dart aimlessly around the room for a long moment, before they finally fix on Hal, and his lips curve into the tiniest of smiles.

“Hal,” he whispers, his voice clearly not obeying him yet.

Hal smiles back at him and nods. “Yes, it’s me. I’ve been here with you the whole time.”

“I know,” Dominic whispers, and Hal’s throat closes up. He just sits, with his hand tightly wrapped around Dominic’s, for a long moment. “How long?” Dominic asks then, a small crease appearing on his brow, and Hal lifts his other hand to brush it away, fingers carding through Dominic’s dishevelled and too-long hair, and down the side of his face.

“Five weeks,” Hal says, and to his surprise, a quiet sob escapes Dominic’s throat.

“I’m so sorry I took so long,” he says, his voice slowly becoming stronger and more audible. Then another, brighter smile spreads across his lips and he adds, “You’ve grown a beard again.”

Hal lets out a small, surprised laugh. “I suppose I did.”

“I still kinda like it,” Dominic says, and Hal chuckles.

“Still no chance of me keeping it once we’re both out of here,” he says, raising his eyebrows, and Dominic’s face falls.

“That’s a shame.”

Shaking his head, Hal lets his fingers brush over the light stubble on Dominic’s own cheek. “You’re a weirdo,” he says fondly, and Dominic snorts.

“Was that ever even in question?”

Hal huffs out a laugh. “I guess not, no.” Then his face goes serious as he adds, “I missed you.”

“I’m sorry, Hal,” Dominic says again, and Hal frowns.

“Why are you apologising? It’s not like you could’ve done anything to speed up the process.”

Dominic gives a tiny shrug of his shoulders. “I suppose not. And anyway, what really counts now is that I’m back here… with you.”

Hal nods. “Exactly.” He stands up from the chair then, leans over the bed, and presses a feather-light kiss to Dominic’s dry, chapped lips. He can feel Dominic kissing him back, and a sharp ache settles in his chest as he is hit with the full force of how much he has missed this, missed _him._ “I love you,” he says against Dominic’s lips, and he can feel the other man’s mouth forming a gentle smile in return.

“I love you too, Hal,” he says, then bites his lip, and a small crease appears on his brow as he adds, “Now, what do I have to do to get out of this place?”


	30. Borrowed Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, as always :)

I'm just a man, but I know that I'm damned  
All the dead seem to know where I am  
The tale that began on the night of my birth  
Will be done in a turn of the Earth

\- Lord Huron, “The Ghost on the Shore”

A few days, Dominic thought at first, a week maybe. The uncertainty of not knowing when or how they are going to call him back has been so much harder to deal with than the knowledge itself that his remaining time here, with Hal, is extremely limited.

And it is made worse by the fact that even now, three weeks later, he has not been able to bring up the courage to actually say anything. To actually do what he came back to do.

What also doesn’t help is that, in these last three weeks, he has still barely made it out of his hospital bed. He is no longer on the ICU, thank god, but despite the doctors telling him that apparently he is some kind of ‘medical miracle’, the recovery from his five-week coma has been slow and painful. He has learned that even though he did hit his head pretty hard in the crash, there was no traumatic bleed, no lasting damage, merely a heavy concussion that should not have resulted in him falling unconscious for five whole weeks.

Apart from the head injury, he suffered a ruptured spleen, several broken ribs, a broken wrist, and a dislocated shoulder. Luckily for him, he more or less slept through most of the physical healing process, even though it still hurts to breathe deeply sometimes, and his biggest problem now is that he feels quite ridiculously weak after having been in bed for so many weeks.

Dominic sighs and lets his eyes wander over to the sleeping figure of Hal in the small plastic chair next to his bed, his head slumped forward onto his chest in a way that, at least in a human, would result in a very stiff and painful neck in the morning. Dominic has long learned that vampires tend to be a lot more resilient to those kinds of things.

Letting his eyes linger on Hal in the almost complete dark of the quiet side room, Dominic’s chest tightens and aches in a way that is nothing to do with his broken ribs. Not for the first time he wonders what would happen if he just never says anything. Would they let him go on indefinitely? Or would they take him back by force again, deciding that he has had more than enough opportunities to keep to his side of the deal?

There is a large, almost overwhelming part of him that wants to just come out and say it, to get it over with, to not risk having to leave again without making sure he has done everything he could to make it right. But a smaller, fiercer part of him is scared to death of Hal’s reaction, of the look on his face when he tells him, and it is that part that has so far won out.

“Penny for your thoughts, Blondie,” Alex’s voice suddenly rings through the silence, making him jump, then groan in pain at the abrupt movement. “Although, the way you’re looking at him, I’m not sure if I actually want to know,” Alex continues in a teasing tone, either unaware or wilfully ignoring his current state of discomfort.

Clenching his teeth against the sharp pain in his chest, he says, “Please could you not just drop in like that in the future, Alex? You scared the life out of me.”

“You look pretty alive to me,” Alex quips, then pauses, and her voice is quiet and thoughtful when she adds, “Mostly, anyway.”

Dominic frowns, eyes darting nervously over to Hal, but he finds him still sleeping deeply. This is another thing he has learned about vampires – once they are asleep, there is very little, bar the smell of fresh blood or the feeling of a stake to the chest – that can wake them up.

Swallowing thickly, he turns his attention back to where he can sense Alex standing by the side of the bed, and asks, “What do you mean by that?”

Alex is silent for a long moment, seemingly deep in thought, and Dominic’s frown deepens. Finally, she says, “I don’t know. There is something… I can’t put my finger on it. You feel… different, somehow, since you’ve woken up. Like…” she drifts off, and Dominic can hear alarm bells ringing at the back of his mind. Trust Alex and her ghostly senses to pick up on whatever has been happening with him.

“Like what?” he prompts, eyes wide as he looks over in her direction.

“Just different,” she says and he can almost feel her shrugging. “Don’t know how to describe it.”

“Well, I’m just the same I’ve always been,” Dominic says firmly, “except perhaps a little weaker from lying around for so long.”

“Yeah, maybe that’s it,” Alex agrees, although she doesn’t sound entirely convinced. “Anyway,” she adds a moment later, “I just dropped in to leave a couple of flasks for Hal. Your colleague – Arthur, I think his name was – very helpfully delivered another few flasks to the house earlier today. Although I overheard him talking to Tom, and he said that apparently Hal gets through them a lot quicker than most others, and he’s a little worried about that.”

“I’ll speak to him,” Dominic says at once, brow creasing slightly. “To be honest, I’m not surprised he would need more than other vampires. It’s mostly to do with his age and… previous habits, rather than anything else. It’s certainly not anything to worry about.”

“If you’re sure,” Alex says, and Dominic watches as two flasks appear on his bedside table. Predictably, Hal stirs as soon as they are placed down next to him, and his tired, slightly glassy eyes open, fixing on the flasks before flicking over to Alex.

“Thank you,” he says with a small smile.

“You’re welcome. Sort of,” Alex says, sounding slightly sour. Neither her nor Tom have exactly been over the moon with this newest development, but thankfully they also haven’t outright rejected their friend. The fact that Hal has spent more or less every waking minute, as well as most nights, in the hospital with him, has probably made it easier for them.

Hal sighs at hearing Alex’s tone, but chooses not to comment. Instead, he grabs one of the flasks off the bedside table, slides it into his pocket, and wordlessly leaves the room.

Dominic looks after him for a long moment, before Alex’s voice drifts over to him again, “At least he hasn’t started drinking it in front of me. I don’t think I could cope with that.”

Dominic nods, “He knows that. That’s why he leaves. When you’re not here…” he drifts off, leaving her to figure out the rest of the sentence.

“Yeah, well, to each their own,” Alex says, sounding slightly ill at ease. “Anyway, how have you been, Blondie?” she adds after a moment, and he can sense her presence shifting over to the chair Hal vacated and sitting down next to him.

“I’m all right,” he says. “Tired. Still takes a few hours to recover from just walking from here to the bathroom,” he admits with a sheepish smile. “But other than that, I’m getting there. Doctors say, all going well, I should be able to go home in a couple of weeks.”

“That’s great news,” she says. “Tom and I better make sure we tidy the place up a bit before you guys get back, otherwise Hal’s going to have a fit.” Dominic chuckles, then winces as once again his chest erupts in a sharp pain. “Sorry,” Alex adds, and he shakes his head.

“No, don’t be. Stupid ribs are just taking forever to heal. And there I was hoping I’d be back to normal before… never mind,” he finishes, colour draining from his face when he realises that he almost gave away too much.

“Before what, Dominic?” Alex asks sharply, and he sighs.

“Nothing, never mind,” he says again, averting his eyes in order to not show his growing unease.

“There’s something you’re not telling me,” Alex states, and before he even knows what he is doing, Dominic finds himself nodding.

“Yes, there is.”

“And you’re not planning on telling me, either,” Alex continues, and he shakes his head.

“No. I’m not.”

“Is it something to do with Hal?” she asks. He just raises his eyebrows at her and gives her a meaningful look, and Alex heaves a frustrated sigh. “God, you’re impossible.”

He chuckles lightly, careful of his ribs this time, and gives her a small smile. “I have my reasons, Alex. Please don’t pry.”

She is silent for a long moment, then sighs loudly again and says, “All right… for now.”

“Thanks, Alex,” he says, his smile turning somewhat melancholic as he thinks about how much he is going to miss her, this infuriating ghost who somehow ended up being his best friend.

A sudden thought pops into his head, _Perhaps I can stick around as a ghost for a while?_ , but he dismisses it almost straight away. That’s not something he even wants to entertain as a possibility – to be there but not there, immaterial, not able to be seen or heard or have any kind of meaningful interaction with the world.

 _But you would be able to interact with the people closest to you,_ that annoying little voice at the back of his mind pipes up.

No, he thinks firmly. Not an option. Not in a million years.

***

Dominic listlessly moves his fork through the unappetising mush he finds on his lunch plate today, decides he can’t possibly stomach another mouthful, puts the fork down and looks up at Hal, who is once again sitting in the uncomfortable plastic chair next to his bed. Dominic has tried and failed many times to persuade Hal to go home, even just for a day, but it seems that the shock of almost losing him has strengthened his resolve to never let him out of his sight again.

As he looks up at Hal now, Dominic’s eyes widen when instead of the familiar soft, somewhat concerned look he usually gives him, he is met with sharp, intense hazel eyes piercing straight into him.

Dominic’s breath catches in his throat. Is this…?

“Hal?” he asks carefully.

A smile forms on Hal’s face in response. “Hey,” he says, and Dominic’s heart skips a beat and speeds up involuntarily when the quality of Hal’s voice quite clearly confirms his suspicions. Hal’s eyes flick down towards his chest, obviously picking up on the change in his heart rate, before coming back up to look into his own again, and he vaguely gestures towards the half-eaten plate of food, his smile taking on a teasing quality. “Not hungry?” he asks.

Dominic huffs. “Would you like to try some? Quite honestly, this is probably a new low. It even beats the fish pie they dished up the other day. Remember that?”

Hal’s brow furrows. “I can’t say that I do,” he says seriously.

“I thought you were… awake in there the whole time?” Dominic asks, a small frown creeping into his own face.

Hal sighs. “I was, for a while. Then he used the added strength of the flasks you gave him and the many hours of time spent waiting at your bedside to start rebuilding the wall again. It’s… not as strong as it was, but he has certainly been able to shut me out for increasing lengths of time.”

“Hmm, I was wondering where you’d gone these last few weeks,” Dominic admits. “He never… mentioned you anymore, and he didn’t have any of those vacant episodes that… never mind.” He lifts his eyes to look straight into Hal’s eyes, so very different to the ones he is used to. They even look a slightly different colour, Dominic thinks. “So, how come you have… taken over?” he asks after a minute, feeling suddenly self-conscious and slightly unsettled in the other one’s presence, this Hal-but-not-Hal that he feels he only knows very little, mostly from their phone calls when Hal was still tied to the chair.

 _Yet you felt you knew him well enough to have sex with him,_ a small voice at the back of his mind reminds him. _Good point,_ he thinks, and can’t help but smile inwardly at the memory.

Hal lifts his eyebrows at him. “I just thought I’d give the mother hen some respite,” he says, and Dominic almost chokes on a sip of blackcurrant squash he has just taken.

“Did I just hear that right?” he asks between coughs, giving Hal a wide-eyed look, and Hal chuckles.

“Why the surprise? I’m just making sure that he doesn’t run the body into the ground completely, seeing as he seems to have lost all sense of self-preservation.”

Dominic laughs. “All right. That does sound more like you.”

Hal shakes his head, a slow smile forming on his lips. “I have to say Dominic, you seem to have completely the wrong impression of me.”

“Mmm, I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Dominic states. “I have met you before, you know.”

“I certainly do,” Hal says, his smile widening, and Dominic hates the way it makes his cheeks heat up at once. The influx of blood draws Hal’s attention, and he stares at Dominic’s face with a growing intensity in his eyes, Adam’s apple rising and falling as he swallows repeatedly. “I… should go and… find something to eat,” he says, voice surprisingly measured even as his nostrils flare.

Dominic feels a sense of unease settle into pit of his stomach. “What do you mean by that?” he asks cautiously.

Hal smiles, and Dominic thinks he can just about make out the tips of two brilliant white fangs. “What do you think I mean?”

“No,” Dominic says firmly, shaking his head. “No, Hal, you can’t.”

Hal just looks at him for a long moment with that unsettling little smile on his face. “Well, even if you offered, I wouldn’t be able to accept it, so there is really very little choice.”

“I can… ask Alex to bring in some more flasks, if you’ve run out,” Dominic says quickly, silently pleading for him to stay, to reconsider, but he knows that if Hal decides he is going to go, there is very little he can do to stop him in his current state.

Hal chuckles. “I’m not a big fan of stale old blood in bottles, Dominic,” he says. His eyes dart down to Dominic’s wrist for a long moment. When they come back up again, Dominic steadily meets them with his own.

“I’ll let you if you want,” he says seriously.

Hal looks like he considers his offer for a moment, then he takes a careful look around them and shakes his head. “Tempting, but… no. As I said, I couldn’t possibly accept that from you right now.” The look in his eyes becomes thoughtful, and a small smile plays on his lips as he adds, “Perhaps another time.”

Dominic returns the smile, even as his heart still hammers in his chest at the thought of what Hal might go and do. “I’d like that,” he says, and one of his hands reaches out to lightly grab Hal’s wrist. “Please don’t, Hal,” he continues, looking at him with big, pleading eyes.

Hal lets out a deep, dramatic sigh. “Dominic. As much as I’d love to stay and spend some quality time with you, I won’t be able to do that without… sustenance,” he says, giving him another meaningful look. Then he stands up and moves away from the bed, out of Dominic’s reach, and with another quick look back at him, makes his way out of the room.

Dominic’s breath catches in his throat. What can he do? What should he do? He could call Alex, she would be able to catch Hal and restrain him in a matter of minutes. But then he would be forced to go through the whole detox ordeal again, and they have long since decided that that is not going to be an option.

But what else can he do? Even after five weeks out of the coma, he is still barely able to walk down the entire length of the ward corridor, and Hal is at the peak of his strength. He would never even manage to catch up with him.

How could he let this happen? How could he allow the other Hal to take control?

How could _Hal_ allow the other Hal to take control?

Dominic feels a wave of dizziness come over him, and he gulps in a much needed breath. Then his heart stops for a terrifying moment when he hears the unmistakable sound of a crash alarm going off in the distance. He tightly squeezes his eyes shut, trying to tell himself that this is not _his_ Hal, that the other one is doing this and that he doesn’t have to feel responsible for his deeds, but the truth is that none of that matters.

He brought Hal here, and Hal just killed a person.

Dominic leans forward and reaches out just in time to grab a bowl from his bedside table, before bringing up the remains of the horrible beef stew he had just forced down himself. He retches and retches until there is nothing left in his stomach but acid and bile, and he takes a few deep, shaky breaths, lowering the bowl and looking up just in time to see Hal standing in the doorway, his eyes glassy with huge, blown pupils, but what he sees in them is not what he expected to see, and the contrast is surprisingly jarring. Hal looks at him with an expression of confusion and concern, a small crease in his brow as his gaze wanders from Dominic’s hunched over form to the bowl in his hands, and back to his face.

“Are you all right?” Hal asks, taking a few quick strides over to the bed and sitting back down in the chair, one hand prying Dominic’s away from the bowl and taking it into his own.

Dominic looks at him for a moment with a combination of shock and relief on his face, then swallows and nods. “I’m okay. Just… couldn’t quite stomach that disgusting stew.” He gives Hal a small smile, which the other returns immediately.

“I’m sorry it made you sick,” he says, eyeing the remainder of the stew on the abandoned plate in front of Dominic with distaste. The alarm has been stopped, Dominic notices, but his ears still pick up hurried footsteps outside, and people talking animatedly in hushed voices. He does his best to force down another wave of nausea threatening to overcome him, and trains his eyes on Hal instead. He finds him looking back at him with a crease in his brow. “I’m… not really sure what just happened,” Hal says slowly.

Dominic feels a lump growing in his throat. “You just went outside to have one of the flasks Alex brought in,” he lies, hoping against hope that Hal’s amnesia is complete enough that he truly doesn’t remember any of what transpired in the last twenty minutes.

Hal’s frown deepens. “I don’t…” he trails off, and his eyes widen as he looks back at Dominic. “It was him, wasn’t it? He was here.”

Dominic sighs, then clears his throat, trying to get rid of that persistent lump in his throat. “Yes, Hal. He was.”

“He didn’t hurt you, did he?” Hal asks immediately, eyes darting across Dominic’s neck and down, the hand that still holds his carefully turning his forearm to expose his wrist.

“No, he didn’t hurt me,” Dominic assures him, even as there is a part of him that pushes him to tell Hal the truth, because he deserves to know, because he _should_ know. Instead, he gives him another small smile as Hal’s eyes come back up to meet his own. “We just… talked.”

“Hmm,” Hal says, a dark look on his face. Then he shakes his head and reaches over to remove the bowl from Dominic’s lap, setting it down out of the way, before taking hold of Dominic’s hand again.

They sit in silence for a long moment, and Dominic does his best to block out the sound of a trolley being swiftly wheeled down the corridor outside, the resuscitation attempt obviously having failed. He looks deeply into Hal’s eyes, so warm and beautiful, and says, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Hal replies with a soft smile, and in that moment, any doubt vanishes from his mind of whether he did the right thing. Of course he did.

***

It is the beginning of December by the time the baby blue Mercedes pulls up in front of Honolulu Heights. Dominic’s own car had to be written off after the accident, as was to be expected, so when it came to the day of his discharge, Hal offered to drive up to Bangor to pick him up. Looking through the passenger side window, Dominic’s eyes fall on the facade of the old B&B, illuminated by the last rays of murky sunlight falling through the thick layer of clouds that has descended on the town of Barry.

“Welcome home,” Hal says next to him, and Dominic turns around to face him, finding Hal looking back at him with a gentle smile on his face. “It’s been long enough.”

“That it has,” Dominic confirms, nodding despite the small ache in his chest at the implication of the words. He doesn’t want his last few weeks with Hal to have been him lying in a hospital bed. This is not what he had in mind when he made his offer.

“What’s on your mind, Dominic?” Hal asks, a furrow in his brow as he regards him curiously. “You’ve been awfully quiet this entire drive. I thought you would be looking forward to coming home.”

“I am,” Dominic says, giving Hal a small, genuine smile. “I couldn’t wait to get out of that place. It’s just… I still don’t feel a hundred percent, and I was hoping that by now… that I’d be able to pick up where I left off.”

Hal’s eyes soften at his words. “Give yourself as much time as you need to get better, okay? You went through quite an ordeal, it’s not something you’re expected to just bounce back from.”

Dominic can’t help the small huff that escapes his throat. “Yeah,” he says, and Hal frowns.

“What?” he asks, puzzled.

Dominic averts his eyes, lets them roam back to the front door of the house, where he can now see Tom standing in the open doorway, a questioning look in his eyes.

“Dominic?” Hal prompts again.

Keeping his eyes fixed on Tom, Dominic says, “I hate the way you treat me like I’m somehow… I don’t know, fragile or something.”

Hal exhales sharply at his words. “I didn’t realise that’s what I was doing,” he says quietly. “I’m sorry if I did or said anything to make you uncomfortable.”

“There!” Dominic bursts out, whirling around to Hal and twisting one of his tender ribs in the process. The sharp pain in his lower chest makes him wince, but he clenches his teeth and does his best not to show it. “That’s exactly my point,” he continues, only very slightly breathless. “You’re so… nice to me. So polite and helpful. I just… I want things to be back to the way they used to be, Hal, without you feeling like you need to walk on eggshells around me.”

The look in Hal’s eyes, so full of shock at Dominic’s words, almost makes him regret his outburst. But then he remembers the reason he feels the way that he does, and he looks back at Hal with a steely intensity, watching the hazel eyes widen. “I… I’m sorry, Dominic,” he says after a moment. “You’re right. I guess… I guess what happened to you scared me half to death, and perhaps I’ve been a bit overbearing as a result.”

Dominic’s face breaks into a smile despite himself. “He called you a mother hen,” he says.

Hal looks blankly at him for a moment, before Dominic’s words fully sink in, and his eyes narrow. “Did he now?” he asks, and Dominic nods.

“He did indeed.”

Hal gives him a thoughtful look, then reaches out a hand to brush his fingers lightly down the side of Dominic’s face. The pads of his fingers run along his jawline before he hooks one finger under his chin to pull his face towards him. Dominic allows him to, closing his eyes a fraction of a second before he feels Hal’s cool lips on his own, gently brushing against them, and he lets out a quiet hum at the familiar contact. His own lips start moving against Hal’s, and they sit there, in Hal’s old car in front of the B&B, in the semi-darkness of an afternoon in early December, kissing softly and slowly for a long moment.

The loud knocking of knuckles against glass jolts them back to reality, and Hal pulls back hastily to glare at the unwelcome intruder. Dominic feels a blush rising into his cheeks when he turns around and his eyes fall on Tom, eyebrows drawn together and giving them a quizzical look through the car window. Dominic’s hand reaches out almost automatically to roll down the window.

“You guys gonna come in, or do ya wanna stay in the car for a bit?” Tom asks, and Dominic’s blush deepens as he can hear Hal chuckle next to him.

“We’ll be in in a moment,” he says. Tom wordlessly nods, and Dominic’s eyes follow him in the passenger side wing mirror as he walks around the back of the car, opens the boot and gets out his suitcase.

“You don’t have to—” he starts, but Tom shakes his head.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it. You just get yerself inside.” With that, he hauls the heavy suitcase up the path to the door, and Dominic turns around to give Hal a disbelieving look.

“See what I mean?” he says.

To his utter horror, Hal lets out a small laugh. “I do,” he says, then leans in and lightly pecks Dominic’s lips again. “I’ll tell them to stop handling you with kid gloves.”

“Thanks,” Dominic says, then pulls away and opens the passenger door.

It actually takes him a phenomenal amount of effort to climb out of the car and make his way up the path to the front door, but he refuses Hal’s help and insists on making his own way, and by the time he makes it through the inner porch door, his breaths are coming in laboured gasps that make his chest hurt.

“Welcome back, Blondie... and I guess welcome back, Hal, since you’ve basically lived at the hospital with him,” Alex says when they step into the living room, and Dominic throws a small smile in her direction.

“Thanks, Alex,” he replies, his gaze wandering across the familiar room, everything seemingly unchanged from when he left nearly three months ago. “It’s good to be back.”

“Would you like to sit down?” Alex continues, and even though he can’t see her, he can picture the look of sympathy and concern on her face. “Or would you like some food? Or a cup of tea? I can get—”

“No, thank you,” Dominic says loudly, cutting her off. One of Hal’s hands comes to lie gently against the small of his back in a show of support. “If I’m completely honest, I’d just like to… go and lie down for a bit,” Dominic continues, and he can feel, through the hand still resting on his back, the slight change in tension in Hal’s body at his words. A small smile spreads on his lips as he turns around to Hal, gives him a wide-eyed look and adds, “Perhaps you can help me get up the stairs?”

“Of course,” Hal says instantly, giving him a jerky nod and, never taking his hand off the small of his back, guiding him towards the staircase. “See you later, Alex,” he throws over his shoulder, and then they make their slow, effortful way up the stairs and into their bedroom.

Once there, Dominic only waits for the sound of the door falling into the latch before he turns around and pulls Hal towards him in a swift movement, with one hand on the side of his hip. “I’ve been waiting to get you alone for the last… seven weeks,” he breathes, his free hand coming up to tangle into Hal’s soft hair, pulling his head down towards him and pressing his lips to Hal’s.

Hal lets out a little surprised noise at the sudden contact, but quickly melts into the kiss, letting his own hands come up to cup Dominic’s face, tilting it up ever so slightly to give him better access. They kiss long and slowly, and Dominic’s hand on Hal’s hip is insistent in pulling him along as he walks backwards, towards the bed, and eventually the backs of his legs hit the bed frame, and he sinks down, still never stopping the kiss as he pulls Hal’s head down with him.

“Are you sure you’re up to—” Hal starts, but Dominic doesn’t allow him to finish, crushing his lips to Hal’s again before gently nibbling on his bottom lip, making a low moan erupt from Hal.

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life,” he mumbles against Hal’s mouth, then shuffles himself backwards onto the bed, propping himself up on his elbows as he watches Hal standing by the side of the bed, giving him a sceptical look. “I thought you said you would stop handling me with kid gloves?” he points out, raising his eyebrows at Hal, who huffs in response.

“I didn’t mean I’d jump into bed with you as soon as we get back.”

“And why not?” Dominic asks, feeling a sense of frustration overcome him. “All I want is the chance to—” He abruptly cuts himself off, eyes widening fractionally for a moment at his almost slip of the tongue before he catches himself. “I just want to be with you again, Hal,” he says instead. “I’ve missed you so much.”

Hal sighs and closes his eyes for a moment, and Dominic can see his resolve slipping as he inches closer to the bed and finally climbs onto the mattress, straddling Dominic’s waist and leaning down to kiss him again. “All right,” he says quietly against Dominic’s lips. “But I want you to take it easy, okay? Just let me do all the work.”

Dominic smiles against his mouth. “That sounds like a plan to me,” he breathes, just as Hal’s hands wander down to the hem if his shirt and under it, lightly running up his sensitive sides and making goosebumps rise on his skin. Hal’s hands come back to the middle of his chest, and he starts undoing Dominic’s shirt buttons, tantalisingly slowly, one by one. Dominic lets out a shaky breath as he watches Hal’s fingers go, working their way down his chest, and when the last button is undone, he pushes the shirt to the side and runs his flat hands back up Dominic’s chest, so very gently, making sure he doesn’t aggravate his still tender ribs as he goes.

Dominic feels a whimper bubble up in his throat, and it escapes his mouth as Hal’s cool lips descend on his chest, kissing the small silver cross that lies across the top of his sternum before peppering small kisses down the centre of Dominic’s chest, then to the side, tongue dipping out and lightly circling around his right nipple, and Dominic moans loudly in response.

“You enjoying that?” Hal asks, tipping his head up to look at him.

“Yes,” Dominic breathes, nodding frantically. “Please continue.”

Hal chuckles, but does as he is told, and a moment later Dominic can feel his tongue circling his other nipple, before he gently sucks it into his mouth.

“Oh, Hal,” he moans, then lets out a high-pitched whimper as he can feel Hal’s teeth grazing against his hypersensitive nipple, followed by another soothing lap of his tongue.

“God, I love it when you make those sounds,” Hal says, throwing him a big smile before he leans back down and kisses a trail down Dominic’s chest and stomach, briefly pausing to dip his tongue into his belly button, and Dominic whimpers again. “Yes,” Hal says, nodding, “exactly like that.”

“Hal,” Dominic moans again. “Please, keep going.”

“I wasn’t going to stop,” Hal says, and his nimble fingers come up to undo Dominic’s belt and trousers, pulling down the zip and brushing against Dominic’s sensitive cock through his underwear.

“Hal, please,” Dominic breathes.

Hal’s hand moves over his growing erection again, still though the fabric of his boxers, and Dominic feels a strong surge of arousal at the touch. His cock twitches against Hal’s hand, and Hal lifts his head up, grinning up at him.

“Well, you’re obviously on the mend,” Hal says, and pulls the elastic of Dominic’s boxers down, freeing his hard length. Dominic moans loudly as Hal’s cold hand makes contact with his exposed flesh, fingers circling around him in a practised motion, then swiftly moving up and down his hard cock. “Does that feel good?” Hal asks, throwing a questioning look his way, and Dominic nods jerkily.

“So good,” he breathes. “I love you so much, Hal.”

“Love you too,” Hal says before, eyes still fixed on Dominic’s, he tilts his head down and takes him into his mouth, moving down almost to the hilt in one smooth, fluid movement.

“Shit, Hal, are you trying to kill me?” Dominic chokes out, but Hal doesn’t respond – can’t, really, given the circumstances – just comes back up to the tip, only to swallow him all the way down again a moment later. He has never been more turned on in his life, Dominic thinks, as he stares back into Hal’s eyes, never breaking eye contact while he bobs his head up and down Dominic’s length in a way that makes him see stars.

After another long moment of watching Hal, Dominic finds his strength slowly waning, and he lets his head drop back against the pillow and allows his eyes to fall shut, enjoying the feeling of Hal’s talented mouth on him, driving him closer and closer to the edge with each passing moment. His heart is hammering against his aching ribcage, his breaths are coming in short, shallow gasps, and his cock is twitching and pulsing in Hal’s mouth, about ready to explode.

Dominic’s hands reach out blindly to find Hal’s head, threading through his soft hair as Hal continues to move up and down his length, and Dominic can’t help the single, powerful thrust of his hips into Hal’s mouth, eliciting a surprised little moan from Hal that reverberates around his sensitive cock. But Hal doesn’t stop, doesn’t move away, just keeps up his wonderful rhythm.

“Hal, I’m—” he starts, but the rest of the sentence morphs into a breathless moan as he feels his orgasm build, and a split second later he shoots spurts of come straight into Hal’s mouth.

Hal waits patiently for him to finish, then lifts his head up and off his softening length, and Dominic opens his eyes just in time to see him swallow thickly before he moves back up Dominic’s body and leans in for a sensual, open mouthed kiss. Dominic can taste himself on Hal’s tongue, and he buries his hands in Hal’s hair once again, pulling him closer to relish the kiss. Then, he carefully guides Hal down into the crook of his neck, where he rests for a long moment, cool lips against his skin, breathing him in, but making no attempt at doing anything else.

“Hal?” Dominic asks, a crease forming on his brow.

Hal’s breath tickles his sensitive skin as he replies, “I won’t, Dominic, not now. Not while you’re still recovering.”

Dominic sighs, but finds that he can’t argue with Hal on this. “Perhaps another time,” he says, subconsciously repeating the other Hal’s words to him, only a few short weeks ago. A brief sense of unease courses through him at the thought of the other Hal, of what he did that day, the secret that he has kept from Hal until this day.

“Yes,” Hal replies, lightly nuzzling the shiny scars in his neck for a moment before he moves back and lies down, pulling Dominic over with him until his head comes to rest on Hal’s shoulder and his hand lies across his still fully dressed stomach. “I should get up and let you get some rest,” Hal says after a moment.

Dominic shakes his head. “No. I’d much rather keep you here with me,” he mumbles sleepily, the exhaustion from the long journey and their more recent activities finally starting to catch up with him. “You make an excellent pillow,” he adds, and Hal chuckles.

“I’m honoured,” he says, tightening his arm around Dominic and leaning his head down to place a soft kiss in his hair.

 _How can I be expected to give this up?_ Dominic thinks, a sharp ache settling into his chest and the tell-tale prick of tears in the corners of his eyes. _I’ve only just found him, how can I possibly let him go now?_

 _“Remember your promise,”_ a voice says, and he recognises it immediately as the voice of the senior administrator.

 _How are you talking to me?_ Dominic replies silently.

The woman laughs quietly. _“Don’t be daft, Dominic. Just because we have been silent these last few weeks, does not mean we haven’t been listening in.”_

 _Please, not yet, I’m not ready,_ Dominic pleads, closing his eyes tightly against the growing threat of tears, even as he starts to feel another, painfully familiar sensation of blood trickling from his nose. Hal stiffens under him for a moment, and Dominic expects him to lean in any moment to lick the blood away from his skin. But to his utter astonishment, Hal does no such thing, and instead reaches over to the bedside table and pulls a couple of tissues from a box, handing them to Dominic.

Dominic presses the tissues to his nose, pinching the bridge to try and reduce the blood flow, and a few long minutes later, it finally trickles out, and he removes the tissues, placing them down on his own bedside table, as far as possible away from Hal.

“Are you going to tell me what those are about yet?” Hal asks with a resigned sigh, and Dominic squeezes his eyes tightly shut, the ache in his chest growing and spreading until it is almost unbearable.

“Not now, Hal,” he says, snuggling closer into Hal’s frame, hand brushing lightly against his toned stomach. “Ask me another time, and I will tell you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... fingers crossed (and I really shouldn’t say this in case I jinx myself again), the final chapter should be up by Monday.
> 
> Happy Easter!


	31. And When It Comes It Will Feel like a Kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, so, this is it, the final chapter. It feels like I really just didn't want this to end, because I just kept writing and writing lol. So here it is, in its entirety, because I didn't feel it was right to split it up.
> 
> The chapter title is taken from the song "Talons" by Bloc Party, because I have so much love for that band, they have been more of an inspiration to me than anything else except for the actual show, and from the very first draft outline of this story, this chapter was going to be linked to that song. So, yeah.
> 
> To be completely honest, I probably won’t start working on Part 3 for a little while, as this whole thing has been completely emotionally draining for me and I feel like I need some time away from it.
> 
> Thank you all so very much for reading.

And I didn’t think I'd catch fire when I held my hand to the flame  
And I didn’t think it would catch up as fast as I could have run  
Fate came a-knocking when I was looking the other way  
A new disease came in the post for me today

\- Bloc Party, “Talons”

Rays of sunlight breaking through the scattered clouds fall in through the large bay window, bathing the room in a warm orange hue. With his head leaning back against the armrest of the sofa, Dominic lets his eyes wander across the ceiling for a moment before giving in to the increasing heaviness of his eyelids, allowing them to fall shut. The soothing sounds of classical music drift over from the stereo by the bar, and a pair of gentle hands work their magic across the undersides of his aching feet, which are currently lying in Hal’s lap.

All in all, Dominic thinks, it’s not so bad to be back home at all.

It has been five days since his arrival back at Honolulu Heights, and it seems that in those five days, Hal has made it his business to make him as comfortable as possible, without ever making him feel like a burden or an invalid, just a person that he cares about very much.

The flasks of blood that Hal has been having have made an enormous difference to his ability to be calm and relaxed around Dominic, and they have both made the most of it, spending nearly every waking moment in each other’s company, almost like an extension of his time in hospital. Not that Dominic would ever be complaining about that. After all, the reason he came back was just so he could spend some more time with Hal, and every moment that they are apart seems like a wasted opportunity.

Arthur has been on the phone to him several times since his hospital discharge, enquiring about when Dominic is expecting to be back at work, and keeping him informed of all the goings on at the Archive, and the fact that Adrian seems to have naturally taken charge and started instructing the other staff, which suits Dominic just fine, as long as he doesn’t start going around and mindlessly ‘eradicating’ Type 2s, like he remembers him saying when he first joined his department.

“What’s on your mind?” Hal’s voice drifts over from the other end of the sofa, where his thumbs are still kneading deep circles into the sole of his right foot.

“Work,” Dominic says without opening his eyes, and he hears Hal’s warm chuckle in reply.

“Why am I not surprised?”

Dominic smiles. “I was just hoping that everything is all right at the Archive in my absence.”

“I’m sure they are perfectly able to cope without you for a while,” Hal says, thumbs moving further down and prompting a soft sigh from Dominic. “After all, they’ve somehow survived for the last three months.”

“Mmmh, mostly,” Dominic says with a small nod, then remembers something Arthur mentioned to him on their phone call this morning, and adds, “Apparently one of the kids has been playing up a bit. He is the oldest since the other two boys were killed, and it looks like he is… trying to take charge of the group now. And it seems like he has made life quite difficult for some of the men recently.”

He can hear the slight frown in Hal’s voice when he replies, “What exactly do you mean by that?”

Dominic sighs, wishing he hadn’t brought it up. He hadn’t planned to discuss his work with Hal in any great detail. “He just… he’s getting a bit cocky, talking about how he feels like a prisoner, that they should allow them some time out, away from the Archive, or he might go and attack one of the men one day, to see if ‘live blood really tastes better’. That kind of thing.”

Hal is silent for a moment before he replies, “He kind of has a point.”

Dominic frowns. “They are at the Archive for their own protection, Hal. Two of them were _killed_ by a psychopathic ghost not too long ago. It’s not like we’re just holding them prisoner for the sake of it.”

“Yes, but does that ‘psychopathic ghost’ even know where you have taken them?” Hal asks, then continues without waiting for an answer. “I can only imagine what it must be like for them, being held in that place every moment of every day, never seeing daylight.”

Dominic smiles. “I thought you people weren’t all that fond of daylight?”

This elicits a small laugh from Hal. “It’s not too bad, unless you’ve slightly overdone it with the blood. You get used to it.”

Smile still firmly in place, Dominic relaxes back against the armrest again, letting out another content sigh as Hal moves across to his left foot, pads of thumbs digging deep into his aching flesh. They are silent of a long moment, before a thought suddenly pops into Dominic’s mind, and he says, “Maybe you should talk to them.”

Hal stills the movement of his hands, and Dominic opens his eyes to see him looking at him with a small frown on his face. “The children?” he asks.

Dominic nods. “Yes. They… apart from Bernie, the first one, they have never actually spoken to another vampire. Someone with experience, who could teach them about… you know, what it’s like.”

Hal’s frown deepens. “I’m… not very good with kids,” he says, a hint of apprehension creeping into his voice, and it makes Dominic smile again.

“These are vampire kids,” he points out. “Plus also, they’re not exactly toddlers, Hal. They’re all pretty much pre-teens. I’m sure you’d be just fine.”

Hal gives him a slightly bewildered look. “You are actually serious about this, aren’t you?”

Dominic meets his gaze with a steady one of his own, nods and says, “Completely serious.”

Hal stares at him for a long moment, one of his hands absentmindedly snaking up the inside of Dominic’s trouser leg. “If I do that, I expect some kind of a reward,” he says eventually, the look in his eyes becoming heated, and Dominic finds himself sitting up and scooting closer to Hal on the sofa, cupping his face in one hand.

“What kind of reward were you thinking of?” he asks innocently, breath ghosting over Hal’s face as he leans in close to him.

“Mmmh, I’m sure you can come up with something I like,” Hal replies, before Dominic leans in the rest of the way and connects their lips together.

“That’s a plan then,” Dominic says, slightly breathless as he pulls back a short while later. “Thank you for your cooperation.”

***

And so Dominic finds himself back in the passenger seat of Hal’s car a couple of days later, driving down the familiar narrow road through the woods that leads to the Archive. He spoke to Arthur on the phone earlier this morning, alerting him to the fact that he would be bringing in #SJ031 to speak to the young vampires, and despite some initial protests, the older man finally saw the value of his argument and agreed to the plan.

The Mercedes comes to a halt outside the Archive entrance, and Dominic glances sideways at Hal, who gives the heavy steel door a dubious look through the windscreen.

“I didn’t think I’d ever come back here,” Hal says, and Dominic reaches out a hand to take hold of Hal’s, giving it a small squeeze.

“You’ll be just fine,” he says, giving Hal an encouraging smile as he turns around to face him.

“That’s easy for you to say,” Hal replies. “You’re not the one setting foot in the lion’s den.”

Dominic can’t help but let out a small laugh. “As far as most of my colleagues are concerned, that’s what I do every day, Hal.”

He lifts his free hand up to Hal’s face, lightly brushing across his cheek, once more clean shaven, and leans in for a split second touch of lips to lips before, too late, pulling back and darting his eyes around to make sure they are not being watched. Luckily, he doesn’t see anyone in the vicinity, and he straightens up and swiftly opens the car door, stepping out into the chilly December air. Hal gets out of the car the other side, and they meet again in front of the grey door, Dominic’s fingers stretching out to lightly brush against the back of Hal’s hand as with his other hand he operates the remote-controlled entrance mechanism. The door opens, and Dominic enters, then turns around to see Hal’s chest rise and fall in a deep breath before he follows Dominic over the threshold.

“Really, Hal, relax. You’re all right,” Dominic says as they start walking down the bleak concrete corridor. “You’re here with me, and I won’t let anyone harm you in any way. Trust me.”

Hal gives him a small smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “I do. I just… don’t trust anyone else in here.”

“And you’re probably right not to,” Dominic admits. “But that’s because they don’t fully understand. Just like I didn’t use to understand, before I…”

“Fell in love with the enemy?” Hal finishes for him, raising his eyebrows.

“Realised you’re not the enemy,” Dominic corrects him, then, throwing another cautious look around them, leans in again for another quick peck on Hal’s lips. “And fell in love in the process,” he adds quietly.

“I’ve corrupted you,” Hal says with a teasing smile, and Dominic laughs.

“Maybe. But I don’t mind all that much, so there’s no need to feel bad about it.”

They continue their way down the empty corridor, until they come around a corner and find themselves face to face with Adrian, whose eyes widen as he takes in Dominic.

“Sir,” Adrian says at once. “I wasn’t aware that you were—” Then he breaks off as his eyes wander from Dominic to the figure standing next to him, and his eyes widen even more, not in surprise, but in fear. “Sir?” he asks, not taking his eyes off Hal as he stands stock-still, like any movement might make the Type 2 jump into action and attack him.

Dominic gives Adrian a small smile and says, “Adrian, this is—”

“SJ031” Adrian throws in, just as Dominic says, “Hal.”

Adrian gives him a bemused look at the casual use of Hal’s first name, and Dominic meets it with a steely one of his own.

“Sir, what…” he gives Hal another nervous glance, then turns back to Dominic and continues in a hushed whisper, “What is he doing here?”

Dominic fights the urge to roll his eyes. “ _He_ has better hearing than any human you have ever come across, Adrian, so that was hardly necessary,” he says, giving the younger man a significant look. “ _He_ is also perfectly able to speak for himself, so the decent thing to do would be to address him directly, rather than speak about him as if he wasn’t there.” Here he turns around to Hal and gives him a quick smile.

Hal chuckles lightly and turns to face Adrian, whose eyes look like they are about to bulge out of their sockets. “I have come to speak to the child vampires you are currently holding here,” Hal explains calmly, and Dominic is impressed with his composure.

“Right,” Adrian says, giving him a curt nod before looking back at Dominic. “Are you sure—” he starts, but Dominic has had just about enough of his interference.

“I’m sure it’s perfectly safe, Adrian, thank you. I would not have brought him here otherwise. Now, if you’ll excuse us,” he says, and loosely grasps Hal’s jacket sleeve to pull him along with him further down the corridor, away from Adrian, but he doesn’t move away quick enough not to see the other man’s eyes dart down to Dominic’s hand holding on to Hal, however casually, and his face contort into an ugly frown.

Swallowing thickly, Dominic keeps walking down the corridor, Hal following along behind him until they have made it to the Type 3 block.

“Isn’t this where you held Bobby?” Hal asks, and Dominic nods distractedly as he unlocks the outer door.

“Yes, it is,” he confirms, then turns around to smile at Hal. “I’m sure Bobby wouldn’t have minded.”

“I think you’re probably right,” Hal says, and they continue to the heavy steel door that leads into Bobby’s room, the room that now holds the five child vampires. He swiftly unlocks it and pushes it open, entering the room with his hand still on Hal’s sleeve, pulling him along with him.

The children are sitting on the floor between the beds at the back of the room, playing some kind of old-fashioned looking board game someone probably found in one of the confiscated items crates.

“Hi, Mr Rook,” the children say almost in unison, and it makes him feel oddly like a schoolteacher. Dominic shakes his head, giving them a fond smile.

“Hi, kids,” he replies, before his eyes wander around the rest of the room and eventually fall on Fleur, who is sitting in the same chair he found her in last time, knitting what looks like a fluffy woollen scarf.

At their approach, she looks up and gives Dominic a bright smile, and in a split-second decision, he lets go of Hal’s sleeve and instead takes his hand into his own.

“Fleur,” he says, walking up to the table and not letting go of Hal’s hand, and Hal, despite looking utterly bewildered, hesitantly follows him. “This is Hal,” he says again, and this time, his announcement is met with a warm, if slightly apprehensive, smile.

“It’s nice to meet you, Hal,” Fleur says after a beat, holding out her hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“All good things I hope,” Hal says with a charming smile, shaking her hand, and Dominic can’t help but roll his eyes slightly at his demeanour.

“Of course,” Fleur replies, then clears her throat and adds, “I understand you are a… a vampire.”

“That’s right, ma’am,” Hal says, just at the same time as five heads suddenly whip up and look over in their direction, the game on the floor between them all but forgotten.

“Is that true?” one of the children, an older boy, most likely the one Arthur told him about, speaks up, jumping to his feet and narrowing his eyes at Hal.

“Jake, don’t be rude,” Fleur says immediately, but Hal gives her a smile and shakes his head.

“It’s all right,” he says to her, before turning around to Jake and the others. “Yes, it’s true, I’m a vampire. And I have been for the last five hundred years.”

“Whoa!” one of the other kids, a smaller boy with big brown eyes, pipes up, looking at Hal in utter amazement. “Five hundred years?”

Hal nods. “Yes. And I have come here today to talk to you about… about what it means to be a vampire. About what it’s like, advantages, challenges, all those kinds of things. You can ask me anything you like,” he says, giving them an encouraging smile.

“All right then,” says Jake, somewhat begrudgingly, and takes a seat on one of the beds. The other kids follow, and Hal pulls up one of the chairs from the table, sitting across from them.

Dominic stays back at the table with Fleur, watching the scene unfold from a distance. Once again, he is impressed with Hal, as he sits there and starts right into an explanation of what vampirism is, where it came from, and what it means for the ones affected, all in child-friendly language and a patience that Dominic would never have expected from him.

Dominic doesn’t even realise that he is staring at Hal with what must be a completely love-struck expression on his face, until Fleur leans in close to him and whispers into his ear, “Careful, or you might start drooling.”

Dominic lets out a small, surprised chuckle. “Yes, sorry, I get carried away sometimes.”

He looks back towards the group on the other side of the room just in time to see one of the children, a small, ginger-haired girl Dominic remembers from last time, raise her hand.

“Yes?” Hal says.

The girl looks at Hal for a long moment, then blushes bright red and asks, “Are you married?”

Hal bursts out laughing even as he looks down at his lap in obvious embarrassment, and Dominic’s heart aches at how beautiful he looks in that moment. Then Hal turns around to him, a smile playing on his lips, and Dominic’s breath catches in his throat when Hal looks directly into his eyes and says, “Not yet.”

Dominic finds that he can’t breathe, that his lungs are not obeying him anymore, and he feels a warm, tingling rush course through his entire body. Did Hal just say what he thinks he said?

“I think he may have just broken poor Emily’s heart,” Fleur whispers next to him, and it is her words that finally enable Dominic to tear his eyes away from Hal, who is also turning back around to face the children again.

“Any other questions?” he hears Hal ask, but the rest of the conversation is drowned out as in his head, Hal’s words from a moment ago play on infinite repeat.

“You should, you know,” Fleur says a moment later, and Dominic’s eyes dart up to meet hers, finding her looking back at him with a soft smile. “You only live once, after all.”

***

By the time they make it back to the house, the sun has disappeared below the horizon, but Dominic’s mind is still reeling with the implication of what Hal said earlier, adrenaline pumping through him and counteracting the fatigue that would normally have settled in this time of day and rendered him pretty much useless to do anything.

Taking quick, purposeful strides towards the front door, he turns around to find Hal smiling brightly at him a little further down the path.

“You’re full of energy today,” he points out, and Dominic nods and smiles back.

“It seems that way, yes.” Then, looking at Hal with big, expressive eyes, he adds, “Better make the most of it.”

Hal chuckles as he catches up with him by the front door and, without warning, pulls him towards him and lands a searing kiss on his lips. Dominic moans quietly at the sudden unexpected attack, but kisses him back nonetheless, hands coming up to the back of Hal’s neck to pull him closer.

They stand and kiss for a long moment, but the cold early winter air soon gets to Dominic, making him shiver. Hal pulls back immediately, giving him a concerned look. “You okay?” he asks.

“Yes, fine,” Dominic says with a smile, cheeks flushed only partly because of the chill. “Let’s just… continue this inside, where it’s warmer,” he suggests.

“Of course,” Hal says with a nod, and firmly takes hold of Dominic’s hand before he fishes for his keys with his other hand and swiftly unlocks the door.

Once inside, Dominic hears Tom’s voice drifting over from the direction of the reception phone.

“”Course ya can, Tasha,” Tom says, and Dominic lightly squeezes Hal’s hand to signal him to stop, just as Tom’s eyes drift over towards them from where he is standing behind the reception desk. “Yeah, sorry, they just come in. D’ya wanna talk to ‘im?”

Tom goes silent for a moment as Natasha’s muffled voice is just about audible through the speaker, but Dominic doesn’t manage to catch any actual words.

“Fair enough, yeah, I’ll just let ‘em know,” Tom continues, eyes still fixed on Hal and himself. “I’m sure you’ll be all right… Yeah…. Yeah, Tasha, don’t worry so much. He’s not gone and done nothin’… No… No, I’m sure it’s safe. An’ I’m gonna be here an’ all…. Yeah… Yeah, see ya Saturday…. Love ya too… Bye.” Looking back at Hal and Dominic again, he says, “That was Tasha.”

Dominic can’t help the small chuckle that escapes him as he replies, “Yes, I… gathered as much.”

Tom, seemingly nonplussed by his reaction, continues, “She’s askin’ if it’s okay to come by for dinner on Saturday. ‘Cause she’s not seen ya since ya been back from hospital an’ that. I said it was all right.”

“Of course it’s all right,” Dominic says, a small smile forming on his lips. “I’d love to see her.”

“I think she’s more worried ‘bout Hal,” Tom points out, throwing a furtive glance in Hal’s direction. Dominic turns around to see Hal frowning back at his friend.

“I don’t understand why she’s suddenly so scared of me,” he says.

“I think it’s to do with what happened with Carl,” Tom says, looking thoughtful. “That really freaked her out, like, and she almost died.”

Hal nods. “I know that. But _I’ve_ never done anything to hurt her.”

“Nah, but you’re a vampire, mate. Guess that’s enough to make her feel threatened.”

Hal sighs. “I suppose I can’t argue with that,” he says quietly, and Dominic gently squeezes his hand in a show of support.

“She’ll realise soon enough that you’re not actually a threat to her,” he says, smiling at Hal. Then, turning back towards Tom, he asks, “So she’s coming around on Saturday? For dinner?” Tom nods. “Better get our resident chef to cook something nice then,” Dominic adds, giving Hal a meaningful look.

Hal laughs. “Resident chef, huh?”

Dominic raises his eyebrows at him. “Well, you certainly beat Tom’s and my culinary skills. No offence, Tom.”

“None taken, mate,” Tom says. “I know he’s a better cook than me.”

“I guess that’s decided then,” Dominic says with another smile towards Hal, who looks back at him and holds his gaze for a long moment.

“I guess so,” he says. “Now, if you don’t mind, I would really like to get the stench of that horrible place off of me.”

Dominic looks mock-offended as he replies, “That ‘horrible place’ is my workplace, Hal!”

Hal sighs deeply. “Yes, but there are positive aspects about you as well.”

“Hal!” he exclaims, just as Hal lets out a deep laugh and pulls him along towards the stairs, throwing a, “See you later, Tom,” over his shoulder.

Hal takes him straight into their bedroom, and an anticipatory tingle runs through Dominic, but dies a moment later when Hal lets go of his hand and gets a change of clothes out of the wardrobe.

“You were serious about having a shower,” Dominic states, barely able to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

Hal turns around to him then, and Dominic is taken by surprise by the heat in his gaze and the small smile forming at the corners of his lips. “I never said I was going to shower alone,” he says, and throws a small bundle of clothes towards Dominic, who barely manages to catch it as he stares, wide-eyed, at Hal.

“You mean…?”

“Well, you see, a little while ago, you planted an idea in my head. One that I knew I couldn’t act on at the time, all things considered, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t _want_ to,” he explains, eyes sparkling as he looks back at Dominic. “And as far as I know, you do still owe me a reward, so…” He trails off, and Dominic can feel his heart rate speeding up involuntarily.

“Yes,” he rasps, then clears his throat and adds, “I’d like that, Hal. I’d like that very much.”

“Well, in that case,” Hal says, taking hold of his hand again as he drags him along with him, out the door and across the hallway into the bathroom.

Once the bathroom door is shut and locked behind them, Hal turns around to him, wasting no time before he slips Dominic’s suit jacket over his shoulders, and Dominic does his best not to think about the price tag on that suit, and the fact that it now lies crumpled on the bathroom floor. The next moment, his thoughts are otherwise occupied as Hal undoes his tie and starts to open the buttons on his waistcoat, then his shirt, cool hands running across his naked chest before he pushes those two items back over his shoulders as well, and they join the jacket in a growing heap on the floor.

Hal pauses briefly to slip his own Henley shirt over his head, exposing his toned chest and stomach, before he moves in again, and his lips capture Dominic’s in a heated kiss the same time his fingers find his belt buckle, and a short moment later, Dominic finds himself standing fully naked as Hal pushes his trousers and underwear down his legs, and he steps out of them before connecting their lips back together again, his own fingers finding the button and zip on Hal’s trousers and returning the favour. Hal walks them towards the shower without ever interrupting the kiss, and out of the corner of his eye, Dominic sees a hand blindly fumbling for the shower controls.

Then the water comes on, and Hal pulls him in, under the spray, closing the glass door behind them, and Dominic finds himself pushed right up against Hal’s body in the small space. Leaning back in for another kiss, he relishes the feeling of the hot water running down his shoulders and back, and the way it seems to even warm up Hal’s skin where he runs his hands over it. Dominic lets out a low moan when he feels Hal’s hands brushing up and down his naked back, and a part of him just wants to stand here and kiss Hal under the hot spray for all eternity.

All too soon, he pulls away and gulps in a deep breath in the warm, humid air inside the tiny shower, and with a smile, he reaches down to retrieve the shampoo bottle, squeezing some shampoo into his hand before bringing both of his hands up to Hal’s head and massaging it into his hair. At the same time, he uses the position of his hands to pull Hal closer again, pressing their lips together once more, like he just can’t get enough of kissing him, of feeling his soft lips against his own.

When he is finished with washing Hal’s hair, he reaches down again, this time for the shower gel, and once again squeezes a generous amount into his hand before bringing his hands up to Hal’s shoulders and gently spreading the soapy gel across his skin, down his chest and stomach, and then one of his hands brushes ever so lightly against Hal’s growing erection.

“Oh, Dominic, please,” Hal moans, and Dominic smiles at him as he takes him into his hand, soap and water creating the perfect environment for him to bring Hal to full hardness with only a couple of strokes. Hal lets out another deep moan and buries his head in the crook of his neck, and Dominic feels a pleasant tingle where Hal’s lips lightly brush against the scars on his neck, teasingly, placing a soft kiss there before moving away, further along his shoulder, and he thinks he can feel the lightest graze of teeth along his skin. His own cock twitches and jumps at the sensation, and he lets out a ragged gasp against the side of Hal’s face.

Then he remembers the actual purpose of what he is doing, and he moves his hand away from Hal’s rock-hard length, briefly massaging his balls before he moves further down his legs, washing first one, then the other, all the way from his thighs down to his feet, and he can hear Hal whimper at the loss of contact.

Looking up into his forlorn looking face, he grins and says, “Patience, Hal. We’re not finished yet.” Then he stands back up again, looks deeply into Hal’s eyes and says, “Turn around, I want to wash your back.”

Hal lifts his eyebrows at him, but does as he is told, leaning his hands against the wall of the shower stall as he turns his back to him, and Dominic once again takes a handful of shower gel, leans in close to Hal and starts massaging the tops of his shoulders. As he leans in, the very tip of his hard cock brushes against Hal’s backside, and immediately, he can feel Hal tensing and pulling away, pressing himself further against the tiled wall.

Dominic frowns and moves backwards. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I didn’t mean to… I’ll be more careful.”

Hal shakes his head, then leans his forehead against the tiles with a sigh. “No, I’m sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong. I just don’t like…” he trails off, and Dominic leans in to press a soft kiss to Hal’s left shoulder blade.

“It’s okay, Hal. I understand.”

Being mindful of his positioning, he moves back in to massage the shower gel into Hal’s tense shoulders, and gradually, he can feel the tension falling away from him as he relaxes under his hands. He slowly moves his soapy hands down Hal’s back, then outwards to his hips, where he pauses, leaning his head in close to Hal’s and resting his chin on his shoulder for a long moment.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

Hal nods. “Yes.”

“Do you want me to continue, or stop?”

Hal lets out a deep sigh, and doesn’t respond for the longest time. Then he pushes away from the wall, forcing Dominic to move back as well, and turns around to face him again.

“I’m sorry,” Hal says, one hand coming up to cup Dominic’s face before he leans in for a gentle kiss. “I love you. It’s just—”

“I know, Hal,” he says quickly, then takes Hal’s free hand into his own and guides it down and around to his own buttocks, and he can feel Hal’s fingers making contact with the sensitive skin around his entrance, letting out a shaky sigh at the sensation. As Hal slowly inserts one finger into him, Dominic reaches down and takes hold of both of their cocks, so close they are practically brushing against each other, and he starts a slow, lazy rhythm, the delicate friction sending shivers down his spine.

“Mmmh,” Hal moans, adding a second finger and slowly, carefully stretching him out. “God, Dominic, you’re so wonderful.” Dominic chuckles lightly and presses another quick kiss to Hal’s lips, but Hal doesn’t allow him to deepen it, as he pulls back and adds, “But I think this would work better if you turned around.”

Dominic’s chuckle morphs into a deep laugh, but he does as he is told, turning towards the cold tile wall and pressing his hands and forehead against it, and immediately, he can feel Hal moving in behind him and his fingers entering him again, taking extra time over the preparation as they haven’t done this for quite some time.

Eventually, Hal removes his fingers and pulls away, and Dominic turns his head to the side to try and see what is going on, but before he knows it, Hal is back, positioning himself straight behind him, and he can feel the blunt tip of Hal’s cock pushing against his entrance.

“Hal,” he breathes, goosebumps rising on his skin, and the next moment, Hal pushes inside, slowly, carefully, until he is buried fully inside of him, and Dominic moans loudly.

Hal lets out a breathless laugh behind him, leaning his head in close. “Yeah,” he whispers into Dominic’s ear. “You like that, don’t you?”

Dominic nods against the tiled wall. “Yes,” he whimpers.

“I do, too,” Hal says then, lips pressing a feather-light kiss against his ear lobe as his hips start a slow, steady rhythm in and out of him. “You know what else I know you like?” he asks, kissing a wet trail down his neck.

“Ngh,” Dominic says, unable to form proper words as he feels Hal’s cock moving in and out him and Hal’s lips once again making contact with the scars on his neck.

“Do you want me to, Dominic?” Hal asks, breath tickling his sensitive skin.

“Uh-hh,” Dominic tries, frantically nodding his head against the wall, and Hal chuckles.

“I take that as a yes,” he says, before finally, finally sinking his teeth into Dominic’s skin.

A violent shiver runs down his spine at the feeling of Hal’s fangs in his neck, and his breath comes in fast, shallow gasps as he finds himself almost overwhelmed by sensation as Hal continues to thrust into him at a faster and faster pace. Dominic’s hand comes down to take his own painfully hard length into his hand, and he tries to match his strokes to Hal’s hard thrusts.

Way too late, he realises he should tell Hal to stop, that he has probably already taken more than is healthy for him, and he slightly moves his head to the side and brings up his free hand to push Hal’s head away from him. Thankfully, Hal doesn’t put up too much of a fight, and swiftly turns his head away to lean his forehead against the back of Dominic’s head instead.

Dominic’s neck stings like crazy as the hot water makes contact with the two open wounds, and looking down, he can see the water turn pink as the blood is washed away from his neck, and from Hal’s mouth. Still Hal is thrusting into him, but he can feel the movements getting clumsy, erratic, and a short while later, Hal grunts loudly into the back of his head and with one last powerful thrust releases his load deep inside Dominic, at the same time as he lets out a strangled, “Hal,” and comes all over the tiled shower wall.

They stand still for the longest moment, Hal leaning against Dominic, and Dominic leaning against the wall, until the water starts running cold, and Hal reluctantly pulls out and moves back, steadying himself against the glass door as he sways slightly on his feet. Dominic turns off the rapidly cooling water, then turns around and gives Hal a small smile.

“Overdid it a bit, there, I think,” he says, and Hal stares back at him with eyes made dark by huge, blown pupils.

“Sorry,” he says, a small frown on his face, and Dominic leans in to gently peck his lips.

“Apology accepted. Now, lets get you dried and dressed and into bed, okay? I don’t want a repeat of what happened last time.”

***

Lying awake in bed that night, tired and pleasantly sore from their earlier encounter, Dominic is still not able to find sleep, his thoughts racing back and forth between what Hal said at the Archive today and the ever present shadow of his imminent fate, looming over him like a black cloud every waking moment. He wishes he had the courage to ask Hal about what he said, to maybe even address it himself, but like with so many things where Hal is concerned, his courage deserts him, and he is left lying awake in the small hours of the morning, watching Hal sleep peacefully beside him and wondering what they could have had, had things played out differently.

With a small sigh, Dominic rolls away from Hal, sitting up and slowly getting out of bed before he carefully leaves the room and makes his way downstairs into the kitchen.

A strong sense of déjà vu overcomes him when he senses Alex sitting at the kitchen table as soon as he enters the room, and she says, “Hi, Blondie. Can’t sleep?”

He chuckles as he switches on the kettle before turning around to her and saying, “No. Too many things going around in my head.”

“Things that you want to talk about?” Alex asks, and he sighs deeply as he quickly prepares a cup of tea and carries it over to the table, taking a seat across from her.

“I don’t know,” he says, hands folding around the hot mug in front of him.

“Have you spoken to Hal about it?” Alex asks then, and he briskly shakes his head.

“No.”

He can hear Alex sigh, and flicks his eyes up in her direction, even though all he is met with is an empty chair. “It’s not healthy to just carry your worries around with you like that, you know. Without wanting to sound like a pop-psych guru, sometimes it actually helps just to talk about it, believe it or not,” Alex says.

Dominic can’t help but let out a small, humourless laugh, and looks back down at the mug in his hands. “I don’t think talking about it will change a single thing, Alex.”

“Well, you’ll never know unless you try,” she replies, and he can feel her eyes boring into him as she speaks.

Swallowing thickly, he shakes his head, lifts the mug to his lips to take a sip of tea, places it back down on the wooden table, lifts his eyes to look at her once more, and says, “I’m dying, Alex.”

All he is met with for the longest moment is a silence so complete that he darts his eyes around the room, wondering whether she left without him noticing, before he even said anything. Then he can hear a tiny hitch in her breath, and he thinks, _Why is she even breathing at all?_ But the thought is irrelevant right now, and then her voice rings out in the silence. “How?” she asks. “I mean, what do you mean, you’re dying? Are you sick? Are you getting treatment? How long have you known? Is it something they found when you were in hospital?” She pauses, and he takes a deep breath, thinking about which one of her myriad of questions to answer first, when she adds, “Does Hal know?”

At least that one is easy to answer. “No,” he says, shaking his head. “I already said I haven’t told him.”

“Okay,” she says faintly. “So…”

“It’s to do with Hatch, and the Door,” he says, once again feeling her eyes piercing into him. Taking a deep, shaky breath, he launches into an explanation of his deal with Hatch, the nosebleeds, the car crash, his conversation with the senior administrator, and finally his new deal and the reason he was allowed to return.

“So, you’re telling me that the only reason you woke up from that coma is because you wanted a chance to say goodbye?” Alex asks, disbelief heavy in her voice.

He nods. “Yes.”

“Bullshit, Dominic!” Alex bursts out then, making him jump slightly with the vehemence of her statement.

“I beg your pardon?” he says, eyes widening as he looks in her direction.

“Well, surely there must be something we can do about this? I mean, you’re telling me you basically sacrificed your life to save Hal, and now he is going to survive while you…”

“I made my choice that night, Alex,” Dominic says calmly, even as his heart races in his chest. “I know I’m not going to get out of this. I already got way more than I deserved.” He pauses and lets out a shaky sigh before continuing, “I guess I just didn’t expect it to be so… hard… to let go.”

“Of course it is,” Alex says seriously. “And take it from me, it hurts like a bitch to never get the chance to say goodbye. I can tell you a thing or two about that.”

A dull ache settles in his chest as her words sink in, and he gives her a small, sad smile. “You know, I think in a way I never really quite grasped the fact that you’re… actually dead.”

Alex barks out a mirthless laugh. “Yep. Dead as a fucking doornail, me. Wouldn’t recommend it, personally.” Then she goes very quiet for a moment, and he can feel her eyes on him again. “That said, have you ever considered—”

“No,” he cuts in, not giving her the chance to continue, to voice the thing that he fears most in the world. “No, Alex. Please don’t ever mention that again.”

“But it would—”

“I said no!” he barks, eyes wide and terrified at the mere thought of what she is suggesting. “I would _never_ want that for myself.”

She is silent again for a long moment, then sighs and says, “All right, your choice. I respect that.”

“Thank you,” he says, managing a small smile.

“So this is it, then?” she asks a moment later. “You’re just going to… die?”

He nods. “It looks like it.”

“Shit, that’s fucked up.”

He lets out a small, slightly hysterical laugh. “I couldn’t agree more, Alex. I couldn’t agree more.”

***

Saturday comes around before they know it, and Hal finds himself in the kitchen, chopping vegetables and grating cheese for the seafood risotto Dominic talked him into making, telling him that it’s surely going to put him in Natasha’s good books, as he remembers her loving it when he took her out for dinner for her eighteenth birthday.

Looking up from where he is standing at the counter, his eyes fall on Dominic standing in the doorway, wearing his favourite midnight blue shirt and giving him a bright, beautiful smile.

“That smells delicious,” he says as he comes in, walks around the counter and pulls Hal towards him, giving him a quick kiss.

“Thanks,” Hal says. “I’ve only just started. If you don’t mind helping out, I could do with someone preparing the seafood over there while I deal with the vegetables.” He gestures towards the other end of the counter, where he has put down the various types of seafood to go into the dish.

Dominic brushes his hand against the small of his back. “That depends,” he says, leaning against the counter. “Have you got another apron? I don’t want to risk ruining your favourite shirt.”

“In the pantry,” Hal replies, trying not to let Dominic distract him too much as he transfers the chopped onions into a saucepan.

Dominic walks off and comes back a short moment later, wearing a bright yellow apron that puts a smile on Hal’s face. Dominic raises his eyebrows at him. “What?” he asks innocently, walking over towards the seafood and starting to sort through the bowl of mussels.

“Nothing,” Hal says with a grin, turning back to his own task, and they work in silence for a long while.

Before they know it, the front door opens, and two pairs of footsteps come down the hallway and into the kitchen. Hal looks up to come face to face first with Tom, and then with Natasha, who gives him a slightly apprehensive look.

“Hi, Hal,” she says.

“Hi, Natasha,” he replies with what he thinks is his most disarming smile. “Welcome. I’m glad you decided to come by.”

Then, right in front of him, Natasha’s face morphs into a wide grin as she lays eyes on Dominic, yellow apron still firmly in place as he stands over the cooker, stirring the risotto. “Oh my god, you look adorable,” she says loudly, coming around the counter and throwing her arms around Dominic, who looks slightly taken aback for a fraction of a second before hesitantly lifting his arms to return her embrace. “It’s great to see you up and about,” Natasha adds after a moment, pulling away and looking him up and down. “You look good.”

“Thanks, Tasha,” he says, smiling. “I feel good.”

Then Hal can see Natasha’s face hardening, and he follows her gaze to Dominic’s neck, where the top one of the two puncture marks is just visible above his shirt collar.

“Well, except for those, maybe,” she says quietly, averting her eyes.

Dominic sighs. “Tasha, we know what we’re doing.”

“Yeah, well, doesn’t mean you have to walk around wearing them like a badge of honour though, does it?” Natasha snaps, then turns on her heels and leaves the room through the swinging doors.

Hal looks up to see Tom looking back and forth between them with a frown on his face. “She has a point, mate,” he says, before following her into the living room.

Dominic sighs loudly, and Hal walks over to him, placing a soothing hand on the small of his back as Dominic continues to face the cooker. “You know she doesn’t approve of… that side of things,” he says carefully, and Dominic nods.

“I know, I just… I wish I didn’t have to hide part of me away from the people closest to me. Alex can accept it, so why can’t they?” he asks, inclining his head towards the double doors.

“Because they’re different people,” Hal says calmly. “Not everyone will react the same, Dominic, and that’s fine. We’ll just have to learn to live with that. As long as you and I feel that what we’re doing is right, that’s the only thing that really matters.”

Dominic lets out a shaky breath then, and slowly nods, turning around to face him. “You’re right,” he breathes, and leans up to press a soft kiss to his lips. “Now, I believe that risotto is just about done.”

They transfer the risotto into a large ceramic bowl, and Hal carries it through to the dining room, where Alex has already set the table and poured drinks for Natasha and Tom, who have taken seats next to each other.

“She says she’s glad to see ya again,” Tom is saying to Natasha as they enter, clearly conveying a message from Alex, who is sitting across from them with a resigned expression on her face.

“I forgot just how awkward it is to have a human around,” Alex laments.

Dominic laughs next to him. “Thanks,” he says, and Natasha’s eyes flick up to give him a puzzled look for a moment, before the penny drops, and she sighs.

“Right, of course, I’m the only one that can’t hear Alex.”

At the same time, Alex looks over at Dominic and says, “Sorry, Blondie. I meant normal humans.”

“Oh, so I’m not normal?” he says, raising his eyebrows in her general direction.

“You are so not normal,” Natasha pipes up then, and for a moment, everyone goes quiet, before Natasha’s face breaks out in a big, teasing grin, and Hal feels a burst of laughter escaping his mouth.

“I guess not,” Dominic agrees, a smile slowly growing on his own face as he takes a seat at the table next to Hal.

This seems to have broken the ice, though, Hal thinks, as the conversation continues in a lighthearted manner after this, avoiding anything that is too heavy or controversial. Stealing glances at Dominic throughout the meal, he thinks that he has never seen him look so happy.

***

“So then he said he was saving them up to build a swimming pool in the back garden,” Hal says, halfway through his retelling of the time they built a homemade bomb in the café kitchen. He may have had slightly too much to drink, he thinks, as his words are starting to slur ever so slightly, and his thoughts are starting to jumble in his head.

“A swimming pool?” Natasha asks, lifting her eyebrows at Tom. “In fucking _Wales_?”

“We have summers in Wales,” Tom says indignantly, and Natasha laughs.

“Yeah, but they’re rarely hot enough for an outdoor swimming pool,” she insists, then turns back towards Hal. “What I find even more astounding though, is that you actually believed him.”

“Mmmh, Hal’s a lot more gullible than he lets on,” Dominic pipes up next to him, throwing him a teasing grin, and Hal narrows his eyes at him.

“Gullible?” he says in a deadly calm tone.

Dominic’s grin, if anything, widens even more. “More than you let on,” he repeats, nodding, and Hal scoffs.

At that moment, there is the sound of a loud yawn coming from the other side of the table, and Hal looks over to see Natasha holding a hand up to her mouth, her eyes widening when she notices him watching. “Sorry,” she says sheepishly. “Red wine always puts me straight to sleep.”

“Ya can sleep here,” Tom offers, giving her a hopeful look, but Natasha bites her lip and shakes her head at him before throwing a quick glance towards Hal.

“No, sorry, Tom, I… I’m okay to come for a visit, but I’m not comfortable enough to stay over night.”

Tom’s face falls, and Hal feels a brief surge of guilt, before he reminds himself that he is really not at fault here. “All right, then,” Tom says, sounding dejected, and throws a half-hearted glare in Hal’s direction, as if he wants to blame him but knows deep down that he can’t. “I’ll drop ya back home.”

They get to their feet and say their goodbyes, Dominic getting another big hug from Natasha and Hal at least getting a reluctant smile. Tom grabs Hal’s car keys off the bar, and they make their way into the hallway and out the front door, and then Hal can hear the familiar sound of the old Mercedes roaring to life outside. Turning back around to the piles of dirty dishes on the dinner table, he heaves a big sigh and says, “Right. I’ll better get on with this.”

“I’ll help you,” Dominic says with a smile.

“Thanks,” he replies, leaning in to lightly peck Dominic’s lips, and out of the corner of his eye, he can see Alex rolling her eyes at them.

He turns around and winks at Alex before the two of them start to carry plates and glasses through to the kitchen. Hal piles everything up in a neat and orderly way, then starts running the hot water in the sink and pulls on his marigolds. Dominic wordlessly grabs the tea towel, ready to dry anything Hal washes up, and they start working together in silence for a long while.

The silence is broken eventually by Dominic loudly exclaiming “Fuck!” next to him, and Hal whirls around to see Dominic holding a hand up to his nose, a trail of bright red blood running down the front of his face and his blue shirt. An intense surge of hunger runs through Hal, but is almost drowned out immediately by a fierce sense of concern for Dominic.

“Are you all right?” he asks stupidly, thinking, _Of course he’s not all right. Look at him._

Dominic looks up at him then, his face showing a mixture of frustration and dread. “I’m… not sure,” he says slowly, pulling a piece of kitchen towel from the roll on the counter and pressing it to his nose.

Hal pulls off his marigolds and takes a step towards him, and Dominic’s eyes widen for a moment, before he relaxes and allows Hal to place a hand on his left shoulder, gently rubbing up and down his arm. “What’s going on Dominic?” he asks quietly. “Please, tell me. I’m worried about you.”

Dominic lets out a sound that is half huff and half sob, and looks at him with bright blue eyes. He doesn’t say anything for the longest time, just looks at Hal, and it starts to make him feel more than a little unsettled, when eventually, Dominic opens his mouth and says, “You saved my life once, you know.”

Hal pulls away slightly, a frown creeping into his face. “I know you said that meeting me has made a big difference to your life, but I wouldn’t go as far as—”

“No, I mean it,” Dominic cuts in, blue eyes intense as they continue to stare into his own. “You literally saved my life.”

Hal feels a heavy weight drop into his stomach at Dominic’s words. “What do you mean by that?”

Dominic sighs deeply and says, “Back before I really knew you, when my department closed down, I… didn’t feel like I had a lot left in my life worth living for.” He pauses, and Hal opens his mouth to respond, but doesn’t get the chance when Dominic carries on, “I decided that the best thing to do would be to… take my own life.”

“Dominic—” Hal starts, but is once again interrupted by Dominic.

“I got out my father’s old revolver, and I was holding it to my head, ready to pull the trigger, when suddenly my phone rang.” Here he looks up and straight into Hal’s eyes. “It was you,” he says, and swallows.

“I… called you?” Hal asks, trying to think back to that time, but not coming up with anything significant.

“It was after you’d killed that werewolf, Larry Chrysler? You called me to dispose of the body for you.”

A sharp pain courses through Hal’s chest as he remembers that day. “You were going to kill yourself?” he repeats faintly, and Dominic nods.

“And you saved my life.”

“Oh, god, Dominic,” he breathes, moving in closer and pulling Dominic into a tight hug. “Please tell me that was the only time you ever considered that.”

Dominic melts into his embrace, even as he lets out a small, humourless laugh and says, “Not the only time I considered it, no. But the only time I was going to go through with it.”

Hal holds him closely against him, not caring that he is probably getting blood all over his shirt, and says, “Please promise me you would never do something so stupid again.”

Dominic lets out another sob. “I wish I could promise you that. I just… I wanted you to know, and I… wanted to thank you, I suppose, for doing that for me. And I wanted to…” he drifts off, and Hal feels his breath catch in his throat as he sees the look on Dominic’s face. Are those tears welling up in his eyes?

“Dominic?” he asks, warning bells ringing in his head, and Dominic gives himself a little shake and smiles at him.

“I wanted to say that I…” he takes a deep, shaky breath, and continues, “I love you, Hal. I love you more than anything in the world, and I always will. And it’s… it’s been a real privilege to know that you… that you felt something for me in return…”

“Dominic, what are you saying?” Hal says, a ringing starting in his ears and the weight in his stomach growing and spreading as he listens to Dominic’s words.

“I’m sorry,” Dominic says, and finally the tears spill over, running down his cheeks. “I love you, Hal. Goodbye.”

The next few seconds seem to happen in slow motion, as Dominic grabs one of the large chopping knives off the counter, and Hal feels like he is moving through treacle as he tries to reach out, and his mouth opens to scream something, but he can’t make it in time, and his words come too late as he watches Dominic plunge the knife into his stomach, and then there is more blood soaking his shirt, so much blood, so much, too much…

Dominic’s eyes are wide and terrified as they stare into his, and then he stumbles backwards, hits the counter with a loud thud, before crumpling in a heap on the floor.

“No!” Hal hears himself shout as if from a great distance, and he jumps forwards, falls to his knees, his airway closing up as he watches Dominic’s eyelids grow heavy. “Dominic, no,” he croaks, “No, no! Stay awake, stay with me, you’re not leaving me, you’re not…”

His hands come up to press against Dominic’s stomach, around the hilt of the knife, to try and stop the bleeding, but he has seen enough bleeding in his life to know that he is not going to stop this.

“Hal!” another voice screams in the distance now, and whoever it is, he ignores them, because what can they possibly want from him now? “Hal, what happened? Shit, you have to call an ambulance! You have to do something! Hal!” It’s Alex, he realises. Alex is telling him to do something.

Do something.

 _Do something,_ the other one yells in his head. _Don’t just fucking sit there like a moron. You know what to do, Hal. You know how to save him._

He has to save him.

“I have to save him,” he says, and out of the corner of his eye, he can see Alex nod.

“Yes, Hal, you do. You have to call an ambulance.”

Hal shakes his head, slowly coming out of the daze he found himself in. “No. No ambulance will be able to get here in time. He’s punctured his abdominal aorta,” he says, realising as he says it that that’s what it has to be, because there is so much blood, so much… “He’s not going to survive this.”

 _Do something, Hal,_ the other one says again, and he squeezes his eyes tightly shut, his hands still pressing into Dominic’s stomach, where the pulsing of the blood grows weaker and weaker with every passing second. Snapping his eyes open again, he takes a long look at Dominic’s face, his eyes fully shut and his skin so pale it is almost translucent, and he has seen him like this once before, he thinks, but then the bleeding was slower, and there was a chance to save him. This time…

“I have to do something,” he whispers, tears streaming down his face, and in that moment, he makes his decision. Taking one hand away from Dominic’s stomach, he swiftly brings his wrist up to his mouth.

“No, Hal!” Alex shouts next to him, and he pauses, looking over at her. She stares back at him with wide, mortified eyes. “He wouldn’t want that,” she says, and he shakes his head, because how can she possibly know that? “He told me,” she says then, and he frowns.

Did he ask the question out loud? It doesn’t matter, he decides, as he once again lifts his wrist up to his mouth.

“Please, Hal, don’t!” Alex continues. “It’s not what he would want, you have to respect that.”

“No!” he shouts, shaking his head violently as he looks at her in utter disbelief. “I can’t do that. I… I have to save him, Alex.” He all but whispers the last bit, his throat closing up, and in one swift movement drives his fangs into his wrist, ripping it open. Then he lowers his arm to Dominic’s face, lets his bleeding wrist rest on his half-open lips. “Go on,” he prompts him, even as he knows he won’t hear him in his current state. “Drink it. It will make you feel better.”

“Hal,” Alex says weakly. “You really shouldn’t—”

“Shut up, Alex,” he says, before turning back to Dominic again. With his wrist still firmly clamped over Dominic’s mouth, he brings up his other hand to gently card through his blood-stained blond hair. “Go on, Blondie, please. Swallow it,” he says, then leans down to press a soft kiss to Dominic’s clammy forehead. “You said I saved your life once before. Now, I’m going to do it again. You’re not leaving me today, Dominic. I’m not going to let you go.”

“Hal,” Alex says again, faintly, and he lifts his head up just in time to see Dominic’s mouth open wider, and Hal watches drops of his blood fall from his wrist and land on Dominic’s waiting tongue. A tongue that swipes out a moment later to lick at the ragged wound in his wrist, then retreats back into the depths of Dominic’s mouth, and his lips close, and he swallows.

“You’re going to be all right now,” Hal says, a smile forming on his lips even with tears still falling from his eyes and landing on Dominic’s too pale cheeks. “You’ll see. Everything is going to be okay.”


End file.
